Press Release: Internal Market: Commission acts to ensure 22 Member States implement EU laws

The European Commission has decided to pursue infringement procedures against 22 Member States for failure to implement certain Internal Market Directives in national law. The Commission will formally request those 22 Member States – all except Bulgaria, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Slovenia – to implement a Directive providing for technical adaptations to EU rules on professional qualifications further to the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.

The Commission will also formally request the Czech Republic, Italy and Sweden to implement a company law Directive, and Belgium to implement the Capital Requirements Directive. These formal requests take the form of "reasoned opinions", the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of the EC Treaty. If there is no satisfactory reply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice. Finally Commission has decided, under Article 228 of the EC Treaty, to send a reasoned opinion to Ireland requesting execution of a European Court of Justice judgement relating to implementation of the Directive on rental and lending rights.