| Author (Person) | Taylor, Simon |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.12, No.12, 30.3.06 |
| Publication Date | 30/03/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Simon Taylor Date: 30/03/06 MEPs will next week back a call for the European Commission to get tougher with those member states which fail to implement EU law properly or within agreed deadlines. Following a debate on better lawmaking in the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday (4 April), MEPs are set to approve a report calling for individual commissioners to have the power to start the first stage of infringement procedures against member states. At the moment, the decision to launch infringement proceedings has to be approved by the entire college of commissioners. The call is contained in an own-initiative report on monitoring the application of EU law by Italian MEP Monica Frassoni, the co-president of the Greens/ EFA group. The report, which has already been approved by members of the Parliament's legal affairs committee, says that infringement procedures take too long, on average 54 months from the registration of the initial complaint. Frassoni also says that there should be an increase in the resources available for those Commission departments most heavily involved in infringements as well as a clear set of priority criteria to decide which cases need dealing with most urgently. Frassoni claims in the report that incorrect implementation by national governments is often the "result of conscious efforts by member states to undermine community legislation for political and economic reasons". The report also criticises the fact that citizens have no rights in infringement cases once they have lodged an initial complaint. Speaking at a hearing on the report in the Parliament in February, European Commission Secretary-General Catherine Day said she was planning to switch resources within the Commission from preparing new legislation, as the executive's workload would be lighter in future than in the past, to more effective monitoring of member states' implementation of EU law. Day is planning to expand the secretariat-general's unit dealing with implementation into a directorate. Article anticipates a debate at the European Parliament, scheduled for 4 April 2006, on the improvement of infringement procedures in the European Union. A call for shorter and more efficient procedures was contained in an own-initiative report on monitoring the application of EU law by Italian MEP Monica Frassoni, the co-president of the Greens/ EFA group. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
