Spanish slam member states’ failure to turn market rules into law

Date: 24/01/02

By Peter Chapman

THE Spanish presidency says member states ranting about the future of Europe should put their money where their mouths are when it comes to turning current EU directives into national laws.

Ramón de Miguel, Spain's secretary of state for European affairs, told MEPs this week that Madrid feels far too many countries are signing up to EU single market rules and regulations, then failing to turn them into national laws.

He said he was 'perplexed' by 'grandiose speeches on the future of Europe...especially when you hear it from countries that do not transpose or get a large amount of complaints for infringements [of single market rules]. These are the countries that claim to be European but don't respect our freedoms.'

De Miguel added that single market legislation was designed to ensure EU citizens and goods and services could flow freely across the 15 member states.

He said the presidency wants member states to meet the target of transposing 98.5 of EU legislation into national law in time for the March summit in Barcelona.

The Spanish have already met this target.

'Spain can meet it but there are others who are a long way behind this objective,' he said.

Worse still, he said some governments have erected new technical barriers to intra-EU trade whenever the Union has agreed to measures to open-up markets.

Although he refused to name names, de Miguel was likely referring to laggards such as France, Italy and Germany - together responsible for nearly 40 of all the infringement cases for failure to put in place EU laws correctly.

Meanwhile, de Miguel warned that many countries trying to join the EU are failing to implement the changes they agreed to when they closed 'chapters' of negotiations with the Commission.

He said there would be an analysis of progress to date at the June summit in Seville. 'Ticking a box saying you have closed a chapter is not enough,' he said. 'The EU is like a club: if I don't respect the rules then I can't be in the club.'

He said Spain - which joined the EU in 1986 - was an example of how a peripheral nation could make the 'fundamental changes' to its system needed for membership.

The Spanish Presidency of the EU says that many countries are signing up to EU single market rules and regulations, then failing to turn them into national laws.