Interne Markt: Commissie neemt maatregelen tegen lidstaten die beleid niet uitvoeren (en)
The European Commission i has decided to launch infringement proceedings against Austria, Greece, Poland and Portugal in the area of the Internal Market. The Commission will refer Portugal to the European Court of Justice for failing to communicate measures transposing the Eligible Assets Directive. The Commission has also decided, under Article 228 of the EC Treaty, to request full information from Greece and Austria on their compliance with previous Court judgments concerning, respectively, professional qualifications and restrictions on establishment. Finally, the Commission has decided to send a formal request to Poland regarding incomplete transposition of a Directive on pension institutions. This formal request takes the form of a "reasoned opinion", the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of the EC Treaty. If there is no satisfactory reply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice i.
Eligible Assets Directive – Portugal
To date Portugal has failed to communicate to the Commission measures transposing the Eligible Assets Directive, which was due to be adopted by 23 March 2008. Given the time elapsed and the fact that, in its reply to the reasoned opinion, Portugal did not provide the Commission with a calendar of the national legislative process for such transposition measures, the Commission has decided to refer this case to the Court.
The purpose of this Directive is to ensure uniform application of the UCITS Directive (85/611/EEC) on investment funds by providing clarifications of definitions relating to assets eligible for investment by UCITS, such as "transferable securities" or "money market instruments". Its efficient implementation is crucial to the proper functioning of the UCITS passport mechanism.
Professional qualifications – Greece
The Commission has decided to send Greece a letter of formal notice, pursuant to Article 228 of the EC Treaty, for its continued failure to recognise other Member States’ optician diplomas following the judgment of the Court of Justice of 4 December 2008 in Case C-84/07. In particular, Greece still refuses to recognise Italian optician diplomas awarded under a franchise agreement concluded between Italian and Greek training establishments. Consequently, holders of such diplomas are still unable to practise their profession in Greece.
Restrictions on establishment for nationals of certain Member States – Austria
In 2006, the Commission brought proceedings against Austria before the Court of Justice because Polish, Slovenian, Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian nationals wishing to set up a company in Austria were required to undergo a lengthy procedure during which each one of the owners of the company had to prove that he or she really had a significant influence on the management of that company. On the basis of that legislation, the registration of a company that had four owners with equal shares was refused because the Austrian authorities considered none of them to have a significant influence on its management.
In its judgment of 22 December 2008 (Case C-161/07), the Court of Justice ruled that Austria had failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 43 of the EC Treaty. In response to its letter requesting information on the action taken to implement the Court’s judgment, the Commission was informed by the Austrian Government that draft legislation intended to ensure compliance with Community law had been drawn up and would be discussed in the Austrian Parliament. The Commission cannot but remark that legislation that has not been adopted cannot be deemed to constitute sufficient action for Austria to have complied with the Court’s judgment of December 2008. Furthermore, the Austrian Government has not sent a precise legislative timetable for adopting the draft text. The Commission has therefore decided to send Austria a letter of formal notice as provided for in Article 228 of the EC Treaty.
Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORP) – Poland
The Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Poland for incomplete transposition of Directive 2003/41/EC on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision. Poland appears to take the view that the Directive includes a number of rules which are not relevant for the Polish pension institutions and that it is therefore not obliged to transpose the Directive in its entirety. The Commission takes the opposite view.
The transposition deadline was 23 September 2005. Given that the Directive contains no derogations or relevant transitional periods as far as transposition is concerned, all Member States have to transpose the Directive in its entirety. Poland has two months to reply to the reasoned opinion.
The latest information on infringement proceedings concerning all Member States can be found at: