MONITORING THE APPLICATION OF COMMUNITY
LAW (2000)
(22716)
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COM(01) 309
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Commission's eighteenth annual report on monitoring the application of Community law (2000).
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| Legal base: |
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| Document originated:
| 16 July 2001 |
| Deposited in Parliament:
| 2 October 2001 |
| Department: |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration:
| EM of 15 October 2001 |
| Previous Committee Report:
| None |
| To be discussed in Council:
| No date set |
| Committee's assessment:
| Legally and politically important
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| Committee's decision:
| Cleared |
Background
3.1 The eighteenth annual report is the
latest Commission examination of the manner and extent of the
application of Community law by Member States. The reports are
made annually, and earlier reports have been considered by the
previous Committee.[5]
The report
3.2 The report follows the pattern of reports
in previous years. It begins with a general description of the
results of Commission monitoring of the application of Community
law in 2000, including a statistical comparison with 1999, a general
review of the transposition of Community directives into national
law, an overview of all infringement proceedings commenced or
handled by the Commission during the year, and finally an overview
of the use of the penalty procedure under Article 228 EC where
a Member State has failed to comply with a judgment of the Court
of Justice.
3.3 In the first part of the report, the
Commission devotes attention to the position of complainants,
pointing to the importance of complaints in the process of detecting
infringements, but reminding them that the primary objective of
the infringement procedure is "to cause the offending Member
State to come into line with Community law". The Commission
recognises that the nature of infringement proceedings may cause
complainants some frustration, since they are not concerned with
compensating individuals for the loss they have suffered. The
Commission reminds complainants that if they wish to obtain compensation
for the loss they sustain, they must bring proceedings in the
national courts.
3.4 The second part of the report consists
of a sector-by-sector analysis of the implementation of Community
law. The report is the first one produced following the reorganisation
of Commission departments, and the sectors are described in a
manner more closely related to the Commission Directorate General
responsible. There are, accordingly, chapters on economic and
financial affairs, businesses, competition, employment and social
affairs, agriculture, energy and transport, information society,
environment, fisheries, internal market, regional policy, taxation
and customs union, education, audiovisual media and culture, health
and consumer protection, justice and home affairs, budget and
personnel and administration. For each sector, there is a description
of the implementation of applicable directives and of any infringement
cases brought by the Commission against a Member State.
3.5 In reviewing the statistics for the
year 2000, the Commission notes that, for the first time, the
number of complaints has fallen (by 6.13%), but that it has commenced
proceedings based on its own investigations in a greater number
of cases (896). Nevertheless, slightly fewer cases were referred
to the Court of Justice (172 as against 178 for 1999).
3.6 On the transposition of directives into
national law, the Commission notes that Member States had, on
average, notified 96.59% of the national measures needed to implement
directives. The Commission comments that this figure "represents
a sharp improvement in the transposal situation, as it is the
highest rate achieved since 1992" and that this improvement
is the result of an improvement in the situation in every Member
State. The Commission draws attention to the efforts of Belgium,
Luxembourg, Greece and Portugal to improve their position , but
notes that Greece still has the lowest rate of transposition.
It is apparent from the table at paragraph 1.3 of the report that
the United Kingdom had transposed 1446 of 1493 applicable directives
by the end of 2000 (96.85%). This is an improvement on the 1999
rate of 95.41%, and is above the EU average of 96.59%. The UK
retains the seventh-from-top place that it has held for the last
two years. Denmark has the best record on implementation (98.46%)
and Greece (93.95%) the worst.
3.7 In relation to infringement proceedings,
the Commission notes that what it describes as "the same
trio" of France, Italy and Greece still heads the lists,
as it did in 1999, in all three stages of proceedings (letter
of formal notice, reasoned opinion and referral to the Court of
Justice). The Commission notes that the number of cases against
Belgium which have been referred to the Court of Justice has fallen
by 34.48% (29 down to 19). It is apparent from the table in paragraph
1.5 of the report that France leads by a considerable margin over
other Member States at all stages. The UK is respectively fifth,
sixth and fourth from the top in the three stages of infringement
proceedings. Denmark, Sweden and Finland have the best overall
records.
3.8 In its review of the procedure under
Article 228 EC (under which the Commission may apply to the Court
of Justice for a lump sum or penalty payment to be imposed for
failure to comply with a judgment of the Court), the Commission
states that it has adopted three decisions to refer cases to the
Court, against Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. The United
Kingdom case, which is currently in preparation by the Commission,
concerns the quality of bathing waters at Blackpool and Southport
and is the result of non-compliance with the requirements of the
Bathing Water Directive[6].
3.9 The Commission notes that in July 2000
the Court of Justice imposed a penalty payment under Article 228
EC for the first time.[7]
The case was brought in respect of the failure by Greece to comply
with a judgement of the Court requiring it to take measures to
eliminate toxic and dangerous waste in the Khania region of Crete.
Greece was ordered to pay a daily penalty. The Commission notes
that the case is "preoccupying" as the infringement
situation had still not been cleared up by the time of the report,
even though the penalty payments were being paid regularly.
The Government's views
3.10 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 15
October 2001 the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (Mr Peter Hain) assesses the policy implications of the
document as follows:
"The Government continues to
support strongly the Commission's efforts to secure proper implementation
and enforcement of Community legal obligations and compliance
with the judgments of the ECJ. As part of this, it welcomes continued
moves by the Commission to speed up action against Member States
for failure to implement Community law and to act under Article
228 when Member States fail to comply with ECJ rulings. The Government
welcomes this report as a useful means of illustrating progress
towards achieving these objectives.
"The Government is taking every
step to ensure that the bathing waters at Blackpool and Southport
comply with the required water quality standards before a financial
penalty is imposed by the ECJ."
Conclusion
3.11 As in previous years, the Commission
has produced a comprehensive report. It shows that the overall
level of compliance by Member States with their Community law
obligations remains very high, and that a number of Member States
have made particular efforts in this regard.
3.12 We welcome the Government's continued
support for the Commission's efforts to secure proper implementation
of Community law obligations and compliance with the judgments
of the Court of Justice. We hope that the credibility of the Government's
position will not be damaged by the embarrassment of a further
Court judgment against the United Kingdom in respect of bathing
waters.
3.13 Although the subject matter of the
report is legally and politically important, we have no questions
to raise and do not see any reason to recommend a debate. We therefore
clear the document.
5 (20360) 10226/99; see HC 34-xxix (1998-99), paragraph
6 (27 October 1999), and (21545) 9957/00; see HC 23-xxviii (1999-2000),
paragraph 13 (1 November 2000). Back
6 Directive
76/160/EEC concerning the quality of bathing water. The Commission
considers that the UK has not fully complied with the Court's
judgment of 14 July 1993 in Case C-56/90, Commission v. United
Kingdom [1993] ECR I -4109. Back
7 Judgment
of 4 July 2000 in Case C-387/97, Commission v. Greece (not
yet reported). Back
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