Brussels, 19/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - 17 member states have already reached the target of delay in transposition into national law of only 1% of directives, according to the internal market scoreboard published by the European Commission on Thursday 19 February. Estonia and the United Kingdom are one directive away from meeting the commitment. The scoreboard shows that member states have, once again, improved their performances in terms of the transposition deficit compared with the last six months (see EUROPE 9700). Belgium, Italy and the Czech Republic recorded a deficit of between 1% and 1.5%; three countries - Cyprus, Greece and Portugal - exceeded the 1.5% figure. The Czech Republic is the member state which has made most progress over the last six months, while Greece would appear to have slackened somewhat in its efforts.
Despite these generally good results, appropriate application of internal market legislation has not really seen any progress. The average number of procedures opened against EU member states remains unchanged at 49. Italy (112) and Spain (103) have most cases against them. Italy, however, is the country with the largest reduction in procedures opened against it. Belgium and Slovakia have seen the number of procedures opened against them rise by 14 and 11 respectively.
In 2008, the SOLVIT network for solving problems related to the implementation of internal market legislation dealt with over 1,000 cases, an increase of 22% on 2007. The Commission estimates the savings made as a result of amicable settlements of problems at €32.6 million for 2008 alone. The Citizens Signpost Service, which provides free advice on European legal matters, responded to over 11,000 requests. The cases dealt with by these two bodies focus largely on social law, recognition of vocational qualifications and freedom of movement. (M.B./transl.rt)