EU: The European Commission has threatened Ireland with a fine of €3,600 a day for failing to comply with European law on intellectual property.
The case arises from Ireland's failure to put into domestic law all the provisions of international agreements on the protection of literary and artistic works, enshrined in the Berne Convention of 1886 and various subsequent revisions. Ireland, like all other EU states, was supposed to have brought its domestic law into line by the beginning of 1995, but did not.
When the European Commission brought a complaint in 1998, the Irish Government said it needed more time to get legislation passed. It admitted that it did not comply with its EU obligations, and promised it would do so by the end of 1999.
The case went to the European Court of Justice in 2000. In March this year, the court ruled that Ireland was in breach of EU law and ordered it to pay costs.
Now the European Commission has begun a second legal action, asking the court to impose a penalty for every subsequent day that Ireland failed to comply with the earlier ruling. The court will be asked to decide whether a fine is justified and, if so, whether to impose the amount requested.
A spokeswoman for the Government said yesterday: "We hope it doesn't get to court. The legal instruments should be in place very soon."
In a separate move, the European Commission warned Ireland of a second case in which it is failing to comply with a European Court of Justice ruling.
In December last year, the court ruled that Ireland was breaching the EU's freedom of establishment because it had not put into domestic law provisions recognising lawyers from other EU states.