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In eleven socio-economic spheres, i.e. in the field of environment, financial stability and services, capital markets union, justice, taxation and VAT, mobility and transport the EU-27 member states have not transposed the EU directives. The Commission’s decisions acknowledge, on one side the EU institutions intention to streamline the Union-wide legal framework; on another, is showing the lack of market-induced forces to competitive political economies.
Background
The Commission has recently adopted a package of infringement decisions due to the absence of the member states responsive measures to transpose EU directives into national law. There is so far the only way: the Commission is sending a letter of formal notice to those states which have failed to notify national measures transposing directives, whose transposition deadline has already expired.
Quite notable that almost all EU-27 member states still did not yet notify full transposition measures for eleven EU directives in the field of environment, financial stability, financial services and capital markets union, justice, taxation, mobility and transport; it is about a third of the EU-regulated socio-economic spheres.
The member states concerned now have two months to reply to the letters of formal notice and complete their transposition, or the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
More in Commission press release: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_25_273
The following sectors have lacked due states’ attention in implementing directives:
= Directive on reporting of air pollutant emission projections. European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending letters of formal notice to Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Cyprus, Hungary, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Finland for failing to transpose Commission Delegated Directive 2024/299 into their national legislation. The Directive ensures that the state’s reporting of air pollutant emission projections to the Commission and the European Environment Agency are aligned with similar reporting to the UN Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution.
The mentioned states are now having two months to respond and complete their transposition; in the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
More on the delegated directive in: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir_del/2024/299/oj/eng
= Directive restricting certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to Cyprus for failing to transpose into their national legislation Commission Delegated Directive 2024/1416 amending the Directive on the restriction of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (Directive 2011/65). This directive restricts the use of hazardous substances, such as cadmium, to protect human health and the environment, and enables environmentally sound recovery and waste treatment of electrical and electronic equipment.
And again, Cyprus government has two months to respond and complete transposition’ otherwise the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
= Directive on minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities. Commission opened an infringement procedure by sending letters of formal notice to 17 EU states – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Slovakia – for failing to fully transpose the Daisy Chains II Directive 2024/1174; the mentioned states have had to transpose it into national law by 13 November 2024.
The Daisy Chains II directive amends the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive 2014/59 aimed to introduce proportionality in the application of the debt buffer to be held by banks and investment firms in order to be able to absorb losses and be recapitalized in resolution (so-called “minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities”, so-called MREL. More specifically, the Daisy Chains II Directive introduces the concept of ‘liquidation entities’ and provides that, as a rule, those should not be subject to MREL, unless the resolution authority decides differently on a case-by-case basis. Full implementation of the legislation is vital for improving “the resolvability of banks” and avoiding level playing field issues between different banking group structures. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
More on Daisy Chains II directive in: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1174/oj/eng
= Directive regarding the adjustments of the size criteria for micro, small, medium-sized and large undertakings or groups. Commission opened infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to Cyprus, Czechia, Spain, Malta and Portugal for failing to notify transposition of the Delegated Directive amending the Accounting Directive 2023/2775 for adjusting micro, small, medium-sized and large undertakings or “groups’ size” criteria for inflation.
The mentioned states had to ensure that the measures of this Directive are transposed into national law and to notify the Commission by 24 December 2024. This Directive aims to increase the monetary size-criteria in the Accounting Directive for determining the size category of a company to adjust for the impact of inflation since 2013. This ensures that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are not being made subject to undue EU financial and sustainability reporting provisions applicable to larger companies and this is vital for further reducing administrative burden.
Even if the mentioned states observe that the national legislation already complies with the provisions of the Directive, they are nevertheless required to notify to the Commission the relevant national provisions. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
More on “adjustment directive” in: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir_del/2023/2775/oj/eng
= Directive on information exchange among the law enforcement authorities in the EU member states. Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to 18 EU member states – Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Slovenia – for failing to fully transpose the Directive on Information exchange between law enforcement authorities of the member states; Directive 2023/977.
The EU member states had to transpose the Directive into national law by 12 December 2024; the directive aims to strengthen the prevention, detection and investigation of criminal offences in the EU, by ensuring that police officers in one state have equivalent access to the information available to those in another EU state. It sets out the organizational and procedural rules on the information sharing between the law enforcement authorities of EU member states, including the establishment of a single point of contact, acting as a “one-stop shop” for information exchange with other EU states. The full implementation of the legislation will strengthen the fight against criminal activities with a cross-border dimension, such as organised crime, drug trafficking, terrorism, sexual exploitation and trafficking of human beings among the EU countries.
These states are now having two months to respond and to complete their transposition and notify their measures to the Commission; in the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
= Measures on transposing the provisions of the EU Emergency Travel Documents. Commission opened infringement procedure by sending a letter of formal notice to Belgium, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia for failing to communicate full transposition of Council Directive 2019/997 establishing a uniform EU Emergency Travel Document. The directive provides that the states have to issue EU Emergency Travel Documents to EU citizens whose passports have been lost, stolen or destroyed when being abroad, to allow them to return to their countries of origin or residence. Issuing emergency travel documents to EU citizens is the most common type of consular protection provided in cases when the EU state of the nationality of the person does not have consular representation in the third country where they are located.
The EU states had until 9 December 2024 to transpose the Directive, as well as accompanying Commission Delegated Directive 2024/1986, into their national law; besides, all EU states will start issuing the uniform EU Emergency Travel Document on 9 December 2025. To date, eleven EU states failed to communicate full transposition of the directives to the Commission. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the states concerned, which now have two months to respond and complete their transposition and notify their measures to the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
= Measures o transposing the provisions of the Directive on Gender Balance on Corporate Boards. European Commission opened infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria and Romania for failing to communicate the respective measures on the transposition of the Directive on improving the gender balance among directors of listed companies and related measures, i.e. Directive 2022/2381 to the Commission; and by sending a letter of formal notice to Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, France, Poland and Portugal for only having notified partial transposition of the directive.
The Gender Balance on Corporate Boards Directive aims for a more balanced gender representation on the boards of listed companies across all EU member states. The Directive sets a target of 40% of the underrepresented sex among the non-executive directors of EU large listed companies, and of 33% among all directors.
The directive entered into force in December 2022 and the EU member states have had until the end of December 2024 to transpose the provisions of this directive. Thus, the Commission sends letters of formal notice to Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, France, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal and Romania, which now have two months to respond, complete their transposition and notify their measures to the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
= Transposing the directive on ferry’s safety. Commission opened infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to four EU states – Bulgaria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland for failing to fully transpose Directive 2023/946 on ferry safety. The new set of rules applies to newly built ships and to those certified to operate in the EU for the first time. Full implementation of the directive is essential to enhance ferry safety by safeguarding passengers from flooding in the event of a collision and ensuring EU regulations align with international standards set by the International Maritime Organisation. The deadline for the EU states to transpose the directive into their national law was 5 December 2024; therefore the Commission is sending letters of formal notice to four mentioned states, which now have two months to respond, complete their transposition and notify their measures to the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
= Transposing the directive on the VAT scheme for small enterprises. Commission opened infringement procedures by sending letters of formal notice to 8 EU states – Bulgaria, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania for failing to transpose the Directive 2020/285 on the special VAT scheme for small enterprises. All EU states have had to transpose this directive into national law by the end of 2024. The directive on the special VAT scheme allows small enterprises to sell goods and services without charging VAT and alleviates their VAT compliance obligations. Moreover, small enterprises established in another EU state than those where VAT is due may exempt their supplies from VAT in the same way as domestically established small enterprises can in their respective states. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the mentioned eight states that now have two months to respond and to complete their transposition and notify their measures to the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
= Transposing the directive on VAT rates. The Commission opened infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to seven EU states – Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania – for failing to communicate the full transposition of the Directive on rates of VAT, i.e. Directive 2022/542). The EU states have had to communicate on the full transposition of this directive into national law by 31 December 2024. The Directive on rates of VAT allows for a wider use by the states of reduced rates, including the use of zero rates for essential products such as food, pharmaceuticals and products intended for medical use. Furthermore, country-specific VAT rates (called derogations) were opened to all EU states, thus ensuring equal treatment across the EU-27. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the states concerned, which now have two months to respond, complete their transposition and notify their national measures to the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
More on VAT rates in: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022L0542&qid=1737488238201
Source and information from Commission press release at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_25_273
Note. Our Institute published several times Commission’s infringement decisions; see e.g. in September 2024: https://www.integrin.dk/2024/09/30/european-commissions-infringement-decisions-new-package/; and in June 2024: https://www.integrin.dk/2024/06/03/infringement-decisions-in-europe-complying-with-the-unions-law/, as well as others.