Crack-down on failure to implement EU laws

Date: 11/07/1996

By Rory Watson

THE European Commission has launched a barrage of over 40 legal cases in a major crack-down on EU governments which fail to implement the Union's single market legislation.

The threat of proceedings before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) now faces every member state with the exception of the UK, Sweden and Finland.

Other cases involving EU legislation on insurance, financial services and public procurement are still in the pipeline and will be announced within days.

The legal onslaught follows repeated warnings from Internal Market Commissioner Mario Monti that governments must comply fully with the legislation they agree in Luxembourg and Brussels.

It also comes hard on the heels of the clear instructions from EU leaders at last month's Florence summit to “speed up the full implementation of the directives concerning the internal market” as an essential ingredient in the formula to promote jobs and economic growth.

Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and Greece are in the front line of legal action as the Commission tries to ensure that businesses and ordinary citizens alike benefit from the abolition of restrictive national rules.

The item of legislation which has been most poorly implemented is the provision that EU nationals residing in other member states should be able to vote and stand as candidates in their local elections.

The measures should have come into force on 1 January, but seven member states have still not implemented them and have now been told by the Commission that they have 40 days to put their houses in order if they wish to avoid legal action.

In addition, several governments are still failing to ensure that residence rights, particularly for students and retired people, are respected and some do not recognise diplomas obtained in other member states.

Greece and Belgium have already been condemned once by the ECJ for failing to implement six-year-old legislation on the mutual recognition of qualifications and now face a second court case for ignoring the June 1994 deadline for putting a second set of laws on to national statute books.

The Commission is also taking action to ensure businesses can compete throughout the single market on an equal footing. Belgium, Italy, Germany and France are being taken to the ECJ for failing to comply with public procurement rules and other cases have been launched to ensure proper implementation of rules on Value Added Tax, excise duties, customs formalities and television advertising.

Since the beginning of the month, the Commission has either warned member states they face legal action or opened proceedings in 43 cases involving single market legislation.

The worst culprits are Italy (10), France (7), Germany (6), Belgium and Greece (4 each). Others include Spain and the Netherlands (3 each), Portugal (2) and Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland and Austria (1 each).

The flurry of legal activity coincides with preparations by various EU institutions for the launch of a Citizens' First information campaign designed to explain the benefits of the single market and of Union membership to the public.

This is being backed by a separate fact-finding exercise conducted by former European Parliament President Simone Veil and a high-level panel to pinpoint the practical obstacles individuals face in moving to, and living and working in member states other than their own.

A clutch of recent ECJ rulings has also condemned three EU countries for applying nationality laws which effectively block the free movement of people.

In light of the judgements, Luxembourg will have to end its practice of banning non-nationals from teaching posts, Greece has been told to open up job opportunities to other EU citizens in various education, transportation and communication sectors, and Belgium has received the same instructions for its public utilities sector.