Duitsland riskeert hoge boetes vanwege achterstand bij implementatie EU-richtlijnen (en)

Germany risks a yearly fine of around one hundred million euros due to its failure to implement EU law, the German Federal Auditor's office in Bonn has warned.

According to an internal report by the auditor's office, seen by the Berliner Zeitung, Germany was the subject of infringement procedures by the European Commission on 305 of the 531 EU laws adopted between 1998 and 2003.

The auditors warn that if the German government does not radically improve its record of transposing EU law into national law, fines by the Commission may soon hit up to 100 million euros a year.

The auditors' warning comes at a time when German Finance Minister Hans Eichel already has severe difficulties in keeping his budget deficit within the limits of the EU stability pact - the EU budget rules which are safeguarded by the same European Commission.

The German budget deficit is expected to rise to 47 billion euro this year.

Claims by citizens

In addition to EU fines, the German government is also increasingly risking big financial claims by citizens and companies who wish to be compensated for delays in implementation of EU law.

4000 citizens have already successfully claimed 6 million euro from the German authorities for the delayed transposition of the EU package holidays directive.

In their report, the auditors slam the German government's practice of making the German regional governments (Länder) responsible for the backlog in transposition of EU law.

"The reasons for the delayed transpositions lay within the responsibility of the Federal Government", says the report.

According to the auditors, Germany is among the worst performers when it comes to transposing EU law.

This was confirmed by recent progress reports on the implementation of EU directives by the European Commission itself, which clearly identify Germany as an under-performer.