| Author (Person) | Chapman, Peter |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.8, No.15, 18.4.02, p17 |
| Publication Date | 18/04/2002 |
| Content Type | News |
|
Date: 18/04/02 By EU HEAVYWEIGHTS France and Germany, whose leaders are currently waging tough re-election campaigns, have been slow to implement Union directives, the Commission has revealed. The two countries, along with Greece, are top of the league of laggards at turning EU directives into national laws - way behind arch-Eurosceptics Denmark and the UK, according to the Commission's latest health check on the state of the ten-year-old internal market. France tops the chart of shame - failing to implement 3 of EU laws - way behind last year's target set by Union leaders to implement at least 98.5 of EU laws. Germany and Greece are level at 2.6. Others failing to meet last year's goal, set at the Stockholm summit, are Portugal (2.4), Luxembourg (2.3), Ireland (2.1) and Italy and Austria (1.9). Single market chief Frits Bolkestein said: 'The fact that eight member states are still struggling and not implementing directives by the deadlines they agreed themselves means that the internal market is not working at its optimum level and it needs to if we are to be the most competitive economy by 2010.' However it was not all doom and gloom. Denmark, often cited as the least enthusiastic member of the EU club, topped the league with a miniscule 0.8 of EU laws still to be put in place - just ahead of Nordic neighbours Sweden (0.9). Meanwhile the UK, which was embarrassed by Bolkestein during a trip to London last November, scored a meteoric rise - from bad boys with 2.3 late last year to third best at 1.3. Completing the picture are Finland (1.3) and the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, who all hitting the 1.5 target. Ramón de Miguel, Spain's secretary of state for European affairs, said the issue would be a priority for Madrid's EU presidency - although his country's record has slipped 0.2 since it took over from Belgium in January. Bolkestein said member states must also do better at approving new laws even after they delivered a 'big boost' to the internal market at the Barcelona summit last month when countries agreed partial liberalisation of energy markets. Problem areas include long-awaited reforms on public procurement and the community patent. He said the 'acid test' would come at next month's 21 May ministerial - at which he urged governments to bury their differences and thrash out a deal. But Bolkestein admitted the onus was not just on member states to deliver. He said the Commission and MEPs had to deliver on promised reforms to the EU's financial services market. France and Germany have been slow to implement EU directives, the European Commission has revealed. |
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