Ireland does well on EU directives

THE GOVERNMENT has implemented 99 per cent of EU directives within the required timeframe, according to a new report by the European…

THE GOVERNMENT has implemented 99 per cent of EU directives within the required timeframe, according to a new report by the European Commission.

The commission’s internal market scoreboard shows just 15 EU directives, or 0.9 per cent of all directives, had not been transposed into national law on schedule. This is slightly below the 1 per cent EU average and represents the best score achieved by Ireland since the creation of the scoreboard.

“I am extremely pleased that we have secured our best score to date,” said Dick Roche, Minister for European Affairs. “Our EU membership provides guaranteed access to the single market of almost 500 million people, across the 27 member states of the EU.

“Access to this large and wide market is as crucial to our well-being now as at any time, and it is essential that we continue to be efficient participants and beneficiaries.”

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Failure to transpose EU directives into national law on time can lead to legal action from the commission. There are currently 56 open infringement proceedings against the Government for failing to properly transpose European directives into national law.