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

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

The European Commission is taking action against several EU Member States that have failed to notify the Commission of measures they have adopted to transpose EU directives into their national laws. The deadline to transpose these directives has expired recently. The Commission is sending a letter of formal notice to these Member States, giving them two months to reply and complete the transposition of the directives. If they fail to do so, the Commission may pass to a next step and issue a reasoned opinion. The Member States in question have failed to fully transpose EU directives. The Commission is urging them to take immediate action to bring their laws in line with EU requirements.

Commission calls on Member States to fully transpose the European Single Access Point (ESAP) Omnibus Directive to ensure investors’ access to corporate public information  
The European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden for failing to fully transpose the European Single Access Point (ESAP) Omnibus Directive (Directive EU 2023/2864) in relation to the changes introduced in 15 Directives calling for disclosures to be sent to ESAP in a specific format with accompanying  metadata. The deadline for the transposition of these changes was 10 January 2026. The ESAP Omnibus Directive is part of the broader ESAP legislative package aimed at providing investors and stakeholders with a centralised mechanism offering easily accessible, comparable and usable public information. This enhances company visibility to investors, potentially increasing sources of financing, benefitting small companies in small capital markets, who may attract more attention from both EU and international investors. The legislative package foresees three phases for ESAP development, building of the ESAP platform, and gradually adding more disclosures, contributing to the integration of EU capital markets, in line with the Savings and Investments Union objectives. It should facilitate the financing of EU companies, drive growth and boost job creation in the EU. ESAP has three stages of implementation. For the first phase, Member States had to transpose the changes introduced in the Transparency Directive by 10 July 2025. For phases two and three, involving the aforementioned 15 Directives, the deadline was 10 January 2026.  The first phase begins in July 2026, with companies under the Transparency Directive, Prospectus Regulation and Short Selling Regulation starting to send their disclosures to ESAP. In the following phases, more public disclosures will be added to ESAP, eventually totalling approximately 200 datasets from 50 legal acts. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden, which now have two months 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. The 15 directives include : Directive 2002/87/EC, Directive 2004/25/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC, Directive 2007/36/EC, Directive 2009/65/EC, Directive 2009/138/EC, Directive 2011/61/EU, Directive 2013/34/EU, Directive 2013/36/EU, Directive 2014/59/EU, Directive 2014/65/EU, Directive (EU) 2016/97, Directive (EU) 2016/2341, Directive (EU) 2019/2034, Directive (EU) 2019/2162.

Commission calls on Member States to fully transpose the Sixth Capital Requirements Directive as regards supervisory powers, sanctions, third-country branches and environmental, social and governance risks
The European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden for failing to fully transpose the amending Sixth Capital Requirements Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1619 – CRD6). CRD6 is an important update of the EU prudential banking framework that aims to harmonise the rules for the provision of banking services by third-country undertakings in the EU, by subjecting them to a set of minimum requirements and minimum harmonised rules for the provision of services. It also seeks to harmonise supervisory powers and tools in a number of areas, such as prudentially relevant transactions, periodic penalty payments, fit-and-proper assessments and independence of supervisors; and to further strengthen the provisions on environmental, social and governance risks by better integrating their management into the prudential framework. It benefits EU citizens by providing financial stability, ensuring that banks can provide loans and services to citizens in every economic circumstances The deadline to transpose the Directive into national law was 10 January 2026. To date, 22 Member States failed to communicate full transposition of the Directive to the Commission. 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 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 e-Evidence Directive
The European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Finland, and Sweden for failing to communicate full transposition of the e-evidence Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/1544). The Directive provides national authorities with a reliable channel to obtain e-evidence from service providers in the EU even if their headquarters are in a third-country. By supporting the work of judicial and law enforcement authorities, it contributes to make EU citizens safer.  Under the Directive, all service providers offering services in the Union must designate a legal representative or a designated establishment to receive, comply with and enforce requests to gather electronic evidence from law enforcement authorities. For example, public prosecutors or judges in the EU can quickly obtain data relevant to criminal investigations or proceedings from a company based outside the EU by contacting its EU legal representative. Member States had until 18 February 2026 to transpose the Directive into their national law. To date, these Member States failed to communicate full transposition of the Directive. 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 measures to the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.