Brussels, 07/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 7 January, the European Commission announced that more than two thirds of EU member states had failed to notify the Commission within the set deadline of the transposition of the 2005 directive on the retention of telecommunications data in the fight against terrorism and organised crime. The only countries to have respected the timescale are France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Estonia. At the end of November 2007, the Commission sent formal notices to states which had failed to meet their obligations, requiring them to send notification of transposition as quickly as possible, under threat of being referred to the Court of Justice, said Friso Roscam Abbing, spokesman for Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini. Some states, such as Germany, have incorporated the directive into national law without notifying the Commission. The text, the fruit of a first reading agreement between the Council and the European Parliament, requires operators to retain telephone and email communications data, something that proved vital in the investigation into the London bombers of July 2005 (see EUROPE 9137). The legislation was formally adopted in February 2006 and member states had until 15 September 2007 to incorporate the directive into national law. The deadline for transposition with regard to retention of internet data has been delayed until 15 March 2009. (B.C.)