Commission takes action to ensure complete and timely transposition of EU directives

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The Commission is adopting a package of infringement decisions due to the absence of communication by Member States of measures taken to transpose EU directives into national law. The Commission is sending a letter of formal notice to those Member States who have failed to notify national measures transposing directives, whose transposition deadline expired recently.  In this case, there are 27 Member States who have not yet notified 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. 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.

Commission calls onMember States to fully transpose the directive on reporting of air pollutant emission projections
The 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 (EU) 2024/299 into their national legislation. The Delegated Directive ensures that Member State’s reporting of air pollutant emission projections to the Commission and the European Environment Agency are aligned with similar reporting to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (the LRTAP Convention). Aligning these reporting obligations reduces unnecessary administrative burden for Member States. These reports allow the Commission to verify whether Member States are on track with their obligations to reduce emissions, as laid down in Directive (EU) 2016/2284 on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants. However, the Member States concerned have failed to communicate their transposition measures to the Commission by 31 December 2024. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to these Member States, which now have two months to respond and complete their transposition. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

Commission calls on Member State to fully transpose a directive restricting certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment
The European 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 (EU) 2024/1416 amending the Directive on the restriction of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (Directive 2011/65/EU – RoHS Directive). The RoHS 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. The RoHS Directive allows, under certain conditions, time-limited exemptions from the restrictions on the use of different substances. One exemption concerns cadmium in certain LED applications. The Delegated Directive narrows the scope of the exemption in view of advanced technical progress, thus contributing to lower the amount of cadmium placed on the market. However, Cyprus has failed to communicate their transposition measures to the Commission. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to Cyprus, which now has two months to respond and complete their transposition. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

Commission calls on Member States to complete the transposition into national law of the Directive on certain aspects of the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities
The European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure by sending letters of formal notice to 17 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia) for failing to fully transpose the Daisy Chains II directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1174). Member States had to transpose it into national law by 13 November 2024. The Daisy Chains II directive amends the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (Directive 2014/59/EU) with the aim of introducing 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 recapitalised in resolution (so-called ‘minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities’ or ‘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 key to improve the resolvability of banks and to avoid level playing field issues between different banking group structures. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the 17 Member States concerned, which now have two months to complete their transposition and notify their national implementing measures to the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

Commission calls on Member States to notify the transposition of the Directive regarding the adjustments of the size criteria for micro, small, medium-sized and large undertakings or groups
The European Commission decided to open 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 Accounting Directive adjusting micro, small, medium-sized and large undertakings or groups size criteria for inflation (Directive 2023/2775). Member 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 is key to further reducing administrative burden. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the five Member States concerned. They now have two months to submit their observations. Even if the Member States observe that the legislation in force 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.

Commission calls on Member States to fully transpose the Directive on Information exchange between law enforcement authorities of Member States
The European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to 18 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 Member States (Directive 2023/977). 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 Member State have equivalent access to the information available to those in another Member State. It sets out the organisational 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 Member 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 across the European Union. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the 18 Member States concerned 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.

Commission calls on Member States to communicate measures transposing the provisions on the EU Emergency Travel Document
The European Commission decided to open an 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 (EU) 2019/997 establishing a uniform EU Emergency TravelDocument. The Directive provides that Member States 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 Member State of the nationality of the person does not have consular representation in the third country where they are located. The Member States had until 9 December 2024 to transpose the Directive, as well as accompanying Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2024/1986, into their national law. All Member States will start issuing the uniform EU Emergency Travel Document on 9 December 2025.To date, the 11 Member States mentioned failed to communicate full transposition of the Directives to the Commission. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the Member 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.

Commission calls on Member States to communicate measures transposing the provisions of the Directive on Gender Balance on Corporate Boards
The European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure 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 (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 Member States had until 28^th December 2024 to transpose the provisions of the Directive. The Commission is therefore sending 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.

Commission calls on Member States to fully transpose the Directive of ferry safety
The European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to four Member States, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland for failing to fully transpose Directive 2023/946 on ferry safety. The new set of rules apply 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 (IMO). The deadline for Member States to transpose the Directive into their national law was 5 December 2024. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the four Member States concerned, 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.

Commission calls on Member States to fully transpose the Directive on the VAT scheme for small enterprises
The European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending letters of formal notice to 8 Member States (Bulgaria, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania) for failing to transpose the Directive on the special VAT scheme for small enterprises (Directive 2020/285). Member States had to transpose this Directive into national law by 31 December 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 Member State than where VAT is due may exempt their supplies from VAT in the same way as domestically established small enterprises can in their respective Member State. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the 8 Member States concerned 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. 

Commission calls on Member States to fully transpose the Directive on VAT rates
The European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to 7 Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania) for failing to communicate the full transposition of the Directive on rates of VAT (Directive 2022/542). Member States 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 Member 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 Member States, thus ensuring equal treatment across the Union. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to the Member 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.