6 February 2025 | By Marten Männis
Policy & Regulation
Ensuring Timely and Comprehensive EU Law Transposition: A Closer Look at the European Commission’s Latest Infringement Package
The European Commission has taken significant steps to uphold the rule of law and safeguard the smooth functioning of the Internal Market through its latest package of infringement decisions. These measures highlight the importance of each Member State’s duty to ensure that EU law is swiftly and accurately transposed into national legislation. When transposition deadlines pass without appropriate follow-through, the Commission’s tools include sending letters of formal notice, issuing reasoned opinions, and—if necessary—referring cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The announcement at hand concerns all 27 Member States and 11 EU Directives in the fields of environment, financial stability, financial services and capital markets union, justice, taxation, mobility and transport, with Member States now having two months to reply and complete the transpositions.
The Role of EU Directives
In the EU legal framework, a directive is a legislative act that sets out goals for Member States to achieve, but it generally leaves the methods of achieving those goals to the Member States. To be effective, each directive must be transposed into national legislation within a specified deadline. Failing to do so undermines the harmonisation of rules across the EU, resulting in a potential fragmentation of the Internal Market.
What Are Infringement Procedures?
When the European Commission detects a possible breach of EU law by a Member State—whether through incorrect transposition, partial transposition, or no transposition at all—it can launch an infringement procedure. This procedure typically starts with a “letter of formal notice.” If the Member State does not comply, the Commission may issue a “reasoned opinion,” giving it another chance to rectify. Persistent failure to comply can lead the Commission to take the matter to the CJEU, which may impose financial penalties or direct orders to ensure compliance.
Air Pollutant Emission Projections
According to the Commission’s press release, nine Member States—Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Cyprus, Hungary, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, and Finland—received letters of formal notice for their failure to transpose Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2024/299. This directive coordinates Member States’ reporting obligations regarding air pollutant emission projections, aligning requirements with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. Harmonising these obligations cuts administrative burdens and ensures consistent data collection methods across national and international levels.
The data collected under these aligned requirements is crucial for monitoring progress toward reducing emissions of atmospheric pollutants—a key ambition of Directive (EU) 2016/2284, which stipulates binding emission reduction targets for the Member States. Without timely and accurate transposition, the EU’s ability to gauge collective progress and intervene where necessary is compromised. The concerned Member States now have two months to respond and complete transposition.
Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment
Cyprus stands out as another country receiving a formal notice for failing to transpose Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2024/1416. This delegated directive amends the RoHS Directive (Directive 2011/65/EU) that limits the use of specific hazardous substances—such as cadmium—in electrical and electronic equipment. By narrowing exemptions for cadmium use, the EU aims to protect human health and the environment while enabling resourceful and ecologically responsible waste management.
Should Cyprus fail to respond adequately within two months, the Commission may escalate the procedure with a reasoned opinion. For consumers and businesses, timely transposition of RoHS directives not only helps protect public health but also ensures a level playing field for producers who have already implemented required changes.
Daisy Chains II Directive
Seventeen Member States—Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, and Slovakia—are in the Commission’s spotlight for incomplete or non-existent transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/1174, also known as Daisy Chains II. This directive modifies the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) by introducing proportionality in the application of banks’ “minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities” (MREL). Daisy Chains II recognises that not all banking group entities must hold these buffers, particularly those designated as “liquidation entities.”
The rationale behind this policy is to allow regulators to focus capital requirements more precisely, ensuring banks can remain resilient during crises without imposing unnecessary obligations on certain smaller or non-critical parts of a banking group.
Adjustments for Micro, Small, Medium-sized, and Large Undertakings
Another significant move concerns five Member States—Cyprus, Czechia, Spain, Malta, and Portugal—who have yet to transpose Directive 2023/2775. This measure updates size thresholds for micro, small, medium, and large enterprises in response to inflationary trends since 2013. By adjusting these thresholds, the EU seeks to keep SMEs from falling under stricter financial and sustainability reporting obligations designed for larger companies. These changes aim to reduce administrative burdens on smaller businesses, supporting entrepreneurship and innovation.
Exchange of Law Enforcement Information
Eighteen Member States have yet to fully transpose Directive 2023/977, the law enforcement information exchange directive. This is a critical piece of legislation that strengthens the prevention, detection, and investigation of crimes with cross-border implications. By establishing a single point of contact (SPOC) in each Member State, the directive aims to harmonise and expedite the exchange of vital police data.
When implemented effectively, the directive assists in tackling drug trafficking, terrorism, human trafficking, and organised crime. Weak or delayed transposition can hinder police cooperation, creating gaps that criminals could exploit.
EU Emergency Travel Document (EU ETD)
Eleven Member States—Belgium, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia—have not fully communicated their transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/997. This directive aims to standardise the EU Emergency Travel Document, facilitating the return of EU citizens who lose their travel documents abroad. Missing or partial transposition undermines a critical consular protection measure, especially for citizens requiring swift repatriation in emergencies.
Gender Balance on Corporate Boards
The Commission’s package includes formal notices to Member States that have not communicated or have only partially communicated measures transposing Directive 2022/2381 on improving gender balance on the boards of listed companies. The directive sets targets—40% of the underrepresented sex among non-executive directors or 33% among all directors—to advance equality in corporate governance. Member States had until December 2024 to enact these rules, a timeline that many appear to have missed.
Stronger female representation at executive and non-executive levels is widely seen as essential for competitiveness, innovation, and social justice. In more straightforward terms – Europe is not even close to fully utilising its citizens in roles in which they could excel best. Though there have certainly been much progress achieved over the last few decades, initiatives such as the aforementioned directive create tangible obligations for Member States to effectively brute force opportunities for a gender who has, throughout history, not had ample opportunities in society to excel alongside men.
Ferry Safety
In the realm of maritime transport, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Poland have not completed the transposition of Directive 2023/946, which updates safety requirements for passenger ships (ferries). These changes apply to new ferry builds and vessels being certified in the EU for the first time, focusing on measures such as preventing flooding in the event of a collision. Aligning EU regulations with updated International Maritime Organization (IMO) standards remains essential for minimizing maritime risks and protecting travelers.
Inconsistent or missing implementation can cause disjointed safety regulations across the internal market. Additionally, for ferry operators and shipbuilders, clarity on technical requirements is central to long-term planning.
Special VAT Scheme for Small Enterprises and VAT Rates
Taxation issues also feature prominently in the new infringement package. Eight Member States (Bulgaria, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Portugal, and Romania) failed to transpose the Directive on the special VAT scheme for small enterprises (Directive 2020/285), while seven Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Lithuania, Portugal, and Romania) fell short of communicating full transposition of Directive 2022/542 on VAT rates. Both directives aim to simplify VAT obligations, reduce administrative burdens, and help small enterprises remain competitive. The Commission’s twin objectives here are to standardize tax regimes across the EU and avoid distortions that could arise from patchy or uneven national implementations.
The Bigger Picture and Next Steps
These infringement proceedings highlight the Commission’s commitment to ensuring that EU directives are not simply adopted on paper but are truly translated into actionable national laws. Uniform transposition matters because it underpins a level playing field for businesses, fosters trust among Member States, and protects citizens’ rights. Whether on financial stability, air pollution, gender equality, or ferry safety, the consistent thread is the fundamental need to uphold common rules that all EU countries have agreed upon.
The potential consequences for non-compliant Member States range from legal pressure (through reasoned opinions and potential CJEU referrals) to financial penalties. Moreover, reputational costs should not be underestimated, as repeated failures to meet transposition deadlines may harm a Member State’s standing among its peers, in addition to diminished legal clarity in lieu of foreign investments. Fortunately, the majority of issues get resolved well before court involvement as national legislators rectify the oversight.
Are there too many pieces of legislation produced?
It is interesting to see the uniformity of all Member States failing to (fully) transpose at least some piece of legislation, in addition to the diversity of directives that are affected. This could potentially highlight a broader issue, in that the EU is producing too much legislation for Member States to adequately keep up with.
In 2024, the EU adopted a total of 77 basic legislative acts and 58 amending acts through the Ordinary legislative procedure. Additionally, several hundred council decisions can be added to the total, in addition to non-legislative acts, implementing acts and other acts, such as Commission decisions. Overall, the volume of legislation (both basic and amending) passed through the ordinary legislative procedure has decreased compared to a decade ago, though more insight is needed to appropriately conclude whether the sheer number of legislation gives a full picture.
