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Single Market Scoreboard

Transposition

Reporting period:

12/2022 – 11/2023

This report takes into account all transposition notifications made by 5 December 2023 for Single Market directives with a transposition deadline on or before 30 November 2023. As of that date, 1001 directives and 6492 regulations were in force to ensure the functioning of the Single Market. All comparisons are with the figures for 10 December 2022, the previous reporting date.

Single Market legislation can only achieve its intended effects if the provisions in the relevant directives are completely and correctly implemented in Member States’ national laws by the deadline set out in these directives.

Monitoring transposition helps make the Single Market work by ensuring that Single Market rules are implemented properly in Member States.

Such monitoring shows the transposition deficit (the gap between the number of Single Market directives adopted by the EU and the number of directives transposed by each Member State) and the conformity deficit (the percentage of those directives incorrectly transposed). It highlights what Member States are doing to ensure that Single Market law is implemented correctly and, by doing so, encourages them to improve their performance.

Transposition and the Single Market – why does it matter?

Incorrect transposition, implementation and application of EU rules creates barriers to the smooth functioning of the Single Market. Delays or gaps in transposition deprive people and businesses of the benefits stemming from the agreed rules, sometimes even for years.

The December 2016 Communication on EU law: Better results through better application pointed to the need to strengthen the assessment of the compliance of national measures implementing EU law and clearly demonstrated the Commission’s determination to ensure fast transposition (to learn how the Commission handles cases brought to the Court of Justice under Article 260(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), see “More information”).

It is up to each Member State to implement EU directives in an accurate and timely way. The March 2020 Long-term action plan for better implementation and enforcement of Single Market rules (the “enforcement action plan”) highlights that the Single Market is built on EU law and is at the heart of the European project. It has fuelled economic growth and has made life easier for European consumers and businesses. However, timely and correct transposition of Single Market rules remains a challenge.

To support Member States more effectively in transposing directives and prevent new barriers to the Single Market, the Commission (in its Better Regulation Guidelines of November 2021) proposed implementation strategies to assist Member States and to monitor the transposition of new directives. These strategies identify the challenges that Member States face during the implementation process and explain what support the Commission can provide to Member States. Support measures include preparing guidance documents, organising expert groups and workshops, creating dedicated websites, and promoting training for practitioners.

In October 2022, the Commission adopted the Communication Enforcing EU law for a Europe that delivers that set out how the Commission has deepened and developed its work on enforcement. The goal is to ensure that EU law is upheld equally in all Member States and to maximise the concrete benefits that its implementation and enforcement work delivers in the everyday lives of people in the EU (the scope of the Communication is described in “More information”).

To mark the 30th anniversary of the EU’s Single Market, the Commission published on 31 January 2023 the third edition of the Annual Single Market Report. The report took stock of the integration of the Single Market and analysed how it helps the EU to navigate current geopolitical tensions, improve its competitiveness and support the economy’s green and digital transitions.

The Communication The Single Market at 30, published on 16 March 2023, looked ahead and called for a renewed focus on removing national barriers and enforcing existing Single Market rules. This should be supported by benchmarks to address deficiencies in the transposition and implementation of EU rules.

In particular, the Communication, building on the Commission’s previous call to Member States, proposed setting specific enforcement targets to limit both the transposition and the conformity deficit to 0.5%.  Similarly, it proposed reducing the duration of cases on the non-communication of transposition measures to 12 months from the sending of the letter of formal notice to the resolution of the case or its referral to the Court of Justice. This second indicator has been added for the first time to the Transposition part of the Scoreboard, as indicator [6] (for more details on the publications linked to The Single Market at 30, see “More information”).

The Communication Long-term competitiveness of the EU looking beyond 2030 also presented by the Commission on 16 March 2023, intended to provide a basis for boosting competitiveness beyond 2030. It identified 9 mutually reinforcing drivers and 17 key performance indicators (KPIs) and committed to “present[ing] the update on an annual basis in the Single Market and Competitiveness Scoreboard”. This means that the Single Market Scoreboard is now expanded to make sure it includes the 17 KPIs relevant for the analysis of the 9 competitiveness drivers. It is becoming a key tool to monitor the EU’s and Member States’ competitiveness under a new Single Market and Competitiveness Scoreboard (SMCS), without changing the tried and tested overall structure of the Scoreboard. The conformity deficit, as presented in this page (see indicator [5]), is one of the agreed KPIs.

The Communication Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report is the successor to the previous Annual Single Market Report. In a single communication and within one annual cycle, it implements the processes set out in The Single Market at 30 and Long-term competitiveness of the EU looking beyond 2030. The Communication provides the basis to measure the state of (i) the Single Market and (ii) EU long-term competitiveness and productivity. This will help inform and lead discussions on any necessary policy measures. It is published together with the Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Scoreboard, which provides supporting data. It also integrates insights from the work of the Single Market Enforcement Task Force (SMET) to eliminate Single Market barriers.

Key messages

  • On transposing Single Market directives (all indicators combined), 8 Member States improved on their overall performance compared to December 2022 (Bulgaria, Ireland, Croatia, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden). However, the situation deteriorated for 6 Member States (Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Malta and Portugal). The performance of the remaining 13 Member States remained stable. For the first time, the overall performance takes into account a new indicator setting a threshold of 12 months to either close the infringement cases launched for non-communication of transposition measures or send those cases to the Court of Justice.
  • The average transposition deficit and the average conformity deficit both decreased. The transposition deficit is back on track (0.7%, down from 1.1% last year). 23 Member States are now in line with the European Council’s 1% target. With a deficit at 0.1%, France is close to the perfect score. The conformity deficit slightly decreased for the first time in 4 years (1.2%, down from 1.3% last year).
  • Transposing directives within the transposition deadline is just one aspect of implementation. Directives also need to be correctly transposed and applied on the ground to be considered to be fully implemented. 11 Member States (Denmark, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden) met the 1% transposition deficit with a low percentage of incorrectly transposed directives. On the contrary, Bulgaria and Poland both had a high transposition deficit and a high percentage of incorrectly transposed directives. Hungary is the Member State with the second-lowest transposition deficit but with the highest number of incorrectly transposed directives.
  • The average transposition delay reached an all-time high, at 18.3 months (it was 12.6 months in 2022 and 8.6 months in 2021). This is explained by Member States quickly transposing the most recent directives in this period. Their failure to implement the oldest remaining ones then contributed more to the average delay. Slovenia, Luxembourg and France have transposition delays of less than a year, while Malta, Portugal, Hungary and Greece have average delays of more than 2 years. This should of course be viewed in relation to the total number of outstanding directives in each Member State.
  • As mentioned above, the threshold to either close cases on non-communication of transposition measures or refer them to the Court of Justice is 12 months. In December 2023, the average duration of non-communication cases related to Single Market was 17.9 months. While Member States have to ensure timely notifications, in case of failure, the Commission needs to go ahead with the infringement proceedings without delay. However, once the transposition is complete, the infringement case should be closed promptly.
  • After 3 challenging years, Member States have a clear and renewed interest in implementing EU law. In 2023, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Single Market, the Commission published several communications. They all highlighted the need for in-depth collaboration with Member States and proposed tools to support Member States’ efforts to improve their performance.

Overall performance

 
 

A Member State’s performance across all transposition indicators is calculated by scoring each of the 6 indicators listed in the Performance indicators table below as follows:
RED = -1, YELLOW = 0 and GREEN = +1.

The colours on the map represent the sum of these scores:

  • green: 2 or higher = above average
  • yellow: -1, 0 or 1 = average
  • red: -2 or lower = below average

Performance indicators

Indicatorgreenyellowred
[1] Transposition deficit
→ Target established by the European Council, Brussels 8-9 March 2007
≤ 1%/> 1%
[2] Change over the last 12 months (change in the number of outstanding directives)decreaseno changeincrease
[3] Number of overdue directives (2 years or more)
→ Target established by the European Council, Barcelona 15-16 March 2002
0/> 0
[4] Transposition delay for overdue directives (in months) 
[5] Conformity deficit
< average -10%average ±10%> average +10%
[6] Duration of infringement proceedings for late transposition (in months)≤ 12 months> 12 months ≤ 18 months> 18 months

This table combines the most relevant indicators to provide a better overview of Member States’ compliance in transposing the Single Market directives. The table shows that a good result on the transposition deficit – which is seen as a key indicator – does not necessarily reflect the overall performance. This is particularly the case for Hungary, which has an outstanding transposition deficit (0.2%) but performs below the EU average when all indicators are considered.

Indicator [1]: Transposition deficit

The transposition deficit is the percentage of Single Market directives not yet completely notified to the Commission out of the total number of directives that should have been notified by the deadline. A 1% target was set at the March 2007 European Council. A new 0.5% target was proposed in the April 2011 Single Market Act and in the March 2023 Communication The Single Market at 30.

How is the transposition deficit calculated?

In its calculation of each Member State’s transposition deficit, the Commission includes:

  • directives for which no transposition measures have been communicated
  • directives considered as partially transposed by the Member State, after notification of some transposition measures
  • directives the Member State considers completely transposed, but for which the Commission has launched an infringement proceeding for non-communication and the Member State has not notified new transposition measures after the latest procedural step taken by the Commission.

The transposition deficit does not include directives that are considered completely transposed by a Member State but for which transposition measures are still under examination by the Commission (no procedural step since the latest notification) – see Directives under completeness check in Facts and figures.

Transposition deficit of Single Market directives, by Member States, as of 5 December 2023:

The average EU transposition deficit of Single Market directives is back on track, at 0.7%. The deterioration observed in the last 4 years is being reversed (see also Changes in the average transposition deficit chart in the Trends section).

23 Member States are now in line with the 1% target (up from 15 a year ago). Member States must now renew their efforts to reach the newly proposed 0.5% target.

Indicator [2]: Change over the last 12 months

Change in the number of outstanding Single Market directives since December 2022

Most Member States continued to reduce their number of overdue Single Market directives during the year.

Indicator [3]: Long-overdue directives (2 years or more)

Single Market directives with transposition deadlines before 1 December 2021, which have not been fully notified to the Commission by at least one Member State as of 5 December 2023

NumberTitleNot fully transposed byTransposition date
2014/112/EUImplementation of the European Agreement concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time in inland waterway transportCyprus, Greece, Malta31/12/2016
2013/59/EURBasic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiationSpain06/02/2018
2018/844/EUAmendment of Directives 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings and 2012/27/EU on energy efficiencyGermany, Malta10/03/2020
2018/1808/EUAmendment of Directive 2010/13/EU on audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive)Ireland19/09/2020
2018/2002/EUAmendment of Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiencyCroatia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain25/10/2020
(EU) 2016/797Interoperability of the rail system within the European UnionPoland31/10/2020
(EU) 2016/798Railway safetyPoland31/10/2020
(EU) 2018/1972European Electronic Communications Code (Recast)Poland21/12/2020
(EU) 2019/944Common rules for the internal market for electricityAustria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Spain31/12/2020
2019/1/ECEmpowerment of the competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal marketEstonia, Romania04/02/2021
(EU) 2019/789Exercise of copyright and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmesPoland07/06/2021
(EU) 2019/790Copyright and related rights in the Digital Single MarketPoland07/06/2021
(EU) 2019/883Port reception facilities for the delivery of waste from shipsBulgaria28/06/2021
(EU) 2018/2001Promotion of the use of energy from renewable sourcesAustria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden 30/06/2021
(EU) 2019/770Contracts for the supply of digital content and digital servicesSlovakia01/07/2021
(EU) 2019/771Contracts for the sale of goodsSlovakia01/07/2021
(EU) 2019/1024Open data and the re-use of public sector informationBelgium, Netherlands17/07/2021
(EU) 2019/1161Promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehiclesBulgaria02/08/2021
(EU) 2019/520Interoperability of electronic road toll systems and facilitating cross-border exchange of information on the failure to pay road fees in the UnionBulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden19/10/2021
(EU) 2019/2161Amendment of Directive 93/13/EEC, 98/6/EC, 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU as regards the better enforcement and modernisation of Union consumer protection rulesSlovakia28/11/2021

Many more directives and Member States are concerned compared to last year. 25 Member States have long-overdue Single Market directives (up from 14) and 20 long-overdue directives have not been fully notified (up from 13).

Indicator [4]: Total transposition delays

The spark lines in the chart shows the trend in transposition delays for Single Market directives since December 2020. Bar gives the value in December 2023. The EU average is 18.3 months.

Transposition delays of Single Market directives increased in most Member States. Outstanding directives are now 18.3 months late on average (up from 12.6 months a year ago).

Indicator [5]: Conformity deficit (incorrectly transposed directives)

The conformity deficit measures the number of transposed Single Market directives for which the Commission has launched infringement proceedings for incorrect transposition. It is expressed as a percentage of the number of Single Market directives notified to the Commission as “transposed” or “not requiring any further implementation measures”. Only the Court of Justice can rule definitively that a directive has not been transposed correctly, and the Commission is still working on the conformity assessment of a number of notified national measures. This should be kept in mind when interpreting the conformity deficit statistics.

The conformity deficit, as presented below, is one of the agreed KPIs identified in the March 2023 Communication Long-term competitiveness of the EU looking beyond 2030. It is the second in driver “A Functioning Single Market”.

Conformity deficit of Single market directives, by Member States as of 5 December 2023

The average conformity of Single Market directives slightly decreased for the first time in 4 years (1.2%, down from 1.3% last year).

Indicator [6]: Duration of infringement process for late transposition

The September 2007 Communication A Europe of results – Applying Community Law called for faster infringements management and priorised non-communication of national measures transposing directives. It proposed a deadline of 12 months from the sending of the letter of formal notice to the resolution of the case or its referral to the Court of Justice. This threshold was also included in the December 2016 Communication on EU law: Better results through better application and in the March 2023 Communication “The Single Market at 30” as one concrete target helping to enforce Single Market rules. It has been decided to make it a full-fledged indicator to emphasise the need for rapid action to put an end to infringements. This task is shared by the Commission and the Member States. While Member States have to ensure timely notifications, in case of failure, the Commission needs to go ahead with the infringement proceedings without delay. However, once the transposition is complete, the infringement case should be closed promptly.

Pending infringement cases concerning late transposition of Single Market directives not yet sent to the Court (those at the pre-litigation stage) on 1 December 2023 (496 cases). Average duration is calculated in months from when the letter of formal notice is sent.

 

The average duration of non-communication proceedings for Single Market directives is above the 12-month threshold.

EEA EFTA countries

Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are also subject to Single Market rules under the EEA Agreement. They are monitored by the EFTA Surveillance Authority.

However, there is a time lag between the adoption or repeal of a legal act in the EU and its addition to or removal from the EEA Agreement. This means that the body of EU law that applies in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway may differ from that which is in force in the EU. On 1 December 2023, 799 directives and 4230 regulations were in force to ensure the functioning of the Single Market in the EEA. This should be considered when comparing the Single Market Scoreboard with the EEA Scoreboard.

Transposition deficit of Single Market directives

Transposition deficit in EEA EFTA countries as of 1 December 2023

Average deficit (all 3 countries): 0.8% (down from 1.0% in December 2022)

  • Iceland: 1.6% (up from 1.0%)
  • Norway: 0.8% (down from 1.5%)
  • Liechtenstein: 0.1% (down from 0.4%)

Total number of late directives: 20 (down from 23 in December 2022)

  • Iceland: 13 (up from 8)
  • Norway: 6 (down from 12)
  • Liechtenstein: (down from 3)

Average delay in transposing directives: 11.8 months (down from 13.1 months in December 2022)

  • Norway: 21.2 months (this is nearly double from 11.2 months in the previous period)
  • Iceland: 13.1 months (up from 10.1 months)
  • Liechtenstein: 1 month (down from 18 months)

Trends (in the EU)

Changes in the average transposition deficit

The transposition deficit is the percentage of directives not yet completely notified to the Commission out of the total number of Single Market directives that should have been notified by the deadline. A 1% target was set at the March 2007 European Council. A new 0.5% target was proposed in the April 2011 Single Market Act and in the March 2023 Communication The Single Market at 30.

 
  • The EU average transposition deficit of Single market directives is now back to what it was before COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The EU average deficit, which had been decreasing steadily for 19 years (between 1997 and 2016), doubled in June 2016 (from 0.7% to 1.5%). This rise was due to an unusually high number of Single Market directives that needed to be transposed in the months before the cut-off date for calculating Member States’ performance. The transposition rate then returned to more normal values (0.6% in December 2019). 
  • In 2020 and 2021, the transposition deficit increased again, by 167%. This was mainly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which placed a strain on Member States’ administrative resources. After these 2 difficult years, Member States managed to break the significant upward trend. The transposition deficit fell by 30%, from 1.6% to 1.1% in December 2022, and by a further 37%, from 1.1% to 0.7% in December 2023.
  • The number of directives that needed to be transposed in the reporting periods has a significant impact on Member States’ performance. In 2016 (1 December 2015 to 30 November 2016), Member States had to transpose 66 new Single Market directives, which led to the transposition deficit doubling. This number was lower in the following years: 39 in 2017, 38 in 2018, 35 in 2019, 51 in 2020, 45 in 2021 and 48 in 2022. It was much lower in 2023 – only 22 directives had a transposition date between 1 December 2022 and 30 November 2023. This must be considered when interpreting this year’s good transposition deficit results.
  • As the average transposition deadline after adoption is around 2 years (see below Focus on short-overdue directives), the smaller number of Single Market directives to be transposed in 2023 is presumably partly due to the slowdown in legislative activities in 2020 and 2021. During this period, Member State authorities and the EU institutions were trying to cope with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trend in transposition deficit by Member State and EEA EFTA country

 

Changes in the average conformity deficit

The conformity deficit measures the number of transposed Single Market directives for which the Commission has launched infringement proceedings for incorrect transposition. It is expressed as a percentage of the number of Single Market directives notified to the Commission as “transposed” or “not requiring any further implementation measures”. 

Only the Court of Justice can rule definitively that a directive has not been transposed correctly, and the Commission is still working on the conformity assessment of a number of notified national measures. This should be kept in mind when interpreting the conformity deficit statistics.

This indicator was set in the April 2011 Single Market Act, with a proposed threshold of 0.5%. The March 2023 Communication The Single Market at 30 endorsed this threshold.

 
  • The number of infringement proceedings for incorrect transposition of Single Market directives launched by the Commission has slightly increased. 46 new cases were launched between 1 December 2022 and 30 November 2023, up from 37 between 1 December 2021 and 30 November 2022. However, it is still significantly below the 161 cases launched between 1 December 2018 and 30 November 2019.
  • The overall decrease since 2019 can be partly attributed to the more systematic use of EU Pilot dialogue as announced in action 21 of the March 2020 enforcement action plan as well as in point V ‘Early detection and resolution of breaches of EU law’ of the 2022 Communication Enforcing EU law for a Europe that delivers (see the Infringement page for more information). Another reason could be the particularly high number of directives that had transposition deadlines in 2016. The conformity checks on those directives were in full swing in 2019 and 2020. They are now mostly completed.

Changes in the incompleteness rate

The incompleteness rate records the number of outstanding directives that one or more Member States have failed to transpose completely, as a percentage of the total number of Single Market directives. It shows the extent to which the Single Market is not yet a reality in the areas covered under those directives.

The Single Market is incomplete when its rules are not applied or the rights derived from them cannot be exercised uniformly. When one or more Member States fail to transpose directives on time, they leave a void in the EU legal framework. Instead of the Single Market covering all Member States, it remains much smaller and fragmented. Consequently, the economic interests of all Member States suffer if just one Member State does not deliver.

  • Over the past 10 years, the incompleteness rate has been fairly stable (4 or 5%). The exception is 2016 when the rate rose to 7% due to a big package of 66 directives that had to be transposed. For 2 years, starting in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Member State authorities to address pressing priorities. At the same time, there was quite a large number of Single Market directives (96) that had to be transposed between 1 December 2019 and 1 December 2021. As a result, the rate grew again to 6%.
  • The incompleteness rate has now dropped to the 2020 level (5%). In absolute terms, 46 out of 1 001 Single Market directives due on 30 November 2023 have not been transposed in at least one Member State (this was 60 out of 1 018 directives in 2022). Although this is good progress, the 5% incompleteness rate still means that the Single Market’s legal framework is only operating at 95% of its potential. In short, despite the 30th anniversary celebrations, the Single Market is still not a reality for the sectors concerned.
Main problem areas (and corresponding incompleteness rate)
  • Connectivity, media, digital society: 5 directives out of 20 (25%)
  • Energy (including energy efficiency): 4 out of 17 (24%)
  • Consumers: 4 out of 19 (21%)
  • Financial information and company law: 4 out of 22 (18%)

Facts and figures

Focus on “short-overdue” directives

The European Council set a zero-tolerance target in 2002 for delays of 2 years or more in transposing Single Market directives. One purpose of the Scoreboard is therefore to report on the number of long-overdue directives in each Member State. However, successive Scoreboards reveal that Member States may have difficulties in transposing directives by the agreed deadlines (time between the entry into force of the directive and the date agreed for notifying national transposition measures to the Commission). The average delay this year is particularly long, at 18.3 months.

  • The transposition deficit is 16.8% considering only the 22 directives that needed to be transposed in the reporting period and that then had the most recent transposition deadlines (1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023). This is more than a year ago, when the transposition deficit for the recent directives was 12.7%, and 24 times the average deficit for all directives (0.7%). The transposition rate varies by Member State, from 100% for Hungary, which transposed all 22 directives, to less than 70% for others: 59% for Belgium (13 directives transposed), 64% for Bulgaria and Luxembourg (14 directives transposed), 68% for Cyprus, Austria and Poland (15 directives transposed). 
  • In addition to a high transposition deficit, these directives have an incompleteness rate of 32% as 15 of the 22 directives have not been transposed by at least one Member State (the incompleteness rate for all directives is 5%).
  • In most cases, short transposition deadlines do not account for the long delays, nor do administrative burdens or the complexity of the directives. Looking at the 22 directives due in this reporting period, there is an average transposition period of almost 3 years (33 months) for the 9 directives adopted by the European Parliament and the Council; there is, an average transposition period of 10 months for the 13 execution directives adopted by the Commission (or by the Council for taxation issues).
  • Most Member States need to better plan their transposition and notification processes for directives that must be incorporated into national law. As the guardian of the Treaties, the Commission strives to launch infringement proceedings for non-communication of the expected national measures within 2 months after the transposition deadline. Too many of these infringement proceedings are being launched because of delays for logistical reasons unrelated to the complexity and/or sensitivity of the directives.
  • The 2022 Communication Enforcing EU law for a Europe that delivers outlines the many tools the Commission uses to support more efficient and effective implementation (e.g., IT tools, meeting-based tools, reporting tools, prevention tools, ad hoc tools). The stocktaking report published by the Commission on 14 July 2023 focuses on the swift transposition of directives and the Commission’s support to Member States to better anticipate implementation challenges and improve transposition planning and guidance.

Directives undergoing completeness checks

Number of Single Market directives undergoing completeness check as of 5 December 2023 (304)

 

The Commission is currently examining a very large number of notifications of national measures transposing Single Market directives.

Overdue directives by sector and Member States

This table shows, for each Member State, the total number of Single Market directives not fully notified, broken down by sector, as on 5 December 2023. Sectors in which directives have been fully transposed are included under “Other sectors”. The highlighted figures show the sector(s) with the highest number of overdue directives in each Member State.

Member State
Competition (1)
Connectivity/media/digital society (20)
Consumers (19)
Energy incl. energy
consumption (17)
Environment (188)
Financial information and
company law (22)
Financial services (66)
Free movement of
persons & citizenship of Union (23)
Plant health legislation (133)
Social policy (97)
Taxation (72)
Transport (120)
Other sectors (223)
TOTAL
Bulgaria  12 4   2 8 17
Belgium 11 2211 4 4 16
Poland 3111211 213 16
Spain  131    314 13
Germany   21  1 1 5 10
Luxembourg  11 2  32 1 10
Austria  1212   2 2 10
Czechia  1213   1 1 9
Denmark    21  12 3 9
Estonia1 12 1 1 1 2 9
Cyprus     3   3 3 9
Slovenia  1  2   2 3 8
Croatia   2     2 2 6
Malta   122   1   6
Netherlands 1   2   1 2 6
Slovakia  3      1 2 6
Ireland 1 1     2 1 5
Latvia   2     1 2 5
Sweden   11    2 1 5
Italy   1 1  1  1 4
Finland   1 2     1 4
Portugal   3     1   4
Greece   1 1   1   3
Lithuania   1       2 3
Hungary   2         2
Romania1 1          2
France  1          1

Problematic sectors for Member States (more than 30% of all cases)

  • Consumers – France (100%), Romania and Slovakia (50%)
  • Energy – Hungary (100%), Portugal (75%), Latvia (49%), Greece, Croatia and Lithuania (33%)
  • Environment – Malta (33%)
  • Financial information and company law – Finland (50%), Czechia, Greece, Cyprus, Malta and the Netherlands (33%)
  • Social policy – Ireland and Sweden (40%), Greece, Cyprus and Croatia (33%)
  • Transport – Lithuania (67%), Bulgaria (47%), Denmark, Cyprus, Croatia, the Netherlands and Slovakia (33%), Spain (31%)

Clearly, these percentages should be viewed in relation to the total number of overdue directives in each Member State (see “Total” column).

Directives for notification by next Scoreboard

In addition to today’s transposition deficit, it is also important to look at new Single Market directives whose transposition deadline will expire between now and 30 November 2024.

Given the number of directives to be transposed in the next 12 months (see Focus on short-overdue directives above) and some particularly high backlogs, several Member States are not expected to be able to meet the 1% target if they do not take drastic action. 

More information

Single Market directives are legal acts considered to have an impact on the functioning of the Single Market, as defined in Article 26(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This includes the four freedoms (freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital) across borders within the EU, and supporting policies that have a direct impact on the Single Market. These policies include taxation, employment, culture, social policy, education, public health, energy, consumer protection, transport, environment (except nature protection), and information society and media.

The December 2016 Communication on EU law: Better results through better application pointed to the need to strenghten the asessment of the compliance (the effective assessment of the completeness and conformity of national measures implementing EU law). For cases brought to the Court of Justice under Article 260(3) TFEU, the Commission now systematically asks the Court to impose both a lump sum and a periodic penalty payment on Member States that do not communicate their transposition measures. This approach is in line with other infringement cases that can result in financial sanctions.

In its judgment of 8 July 2019 in Case C-543/17, Commission v Belgium, the Court of Justice clarified the scope of Article 260(3) TFEU. On 16 July 2020, the Court of Justice reconfirmed its position in rulings C-549/18, Commission v Romania, and C-550/18, Commission v Ireland, and clarified further the calculation and imposition of daily penalties and lump sums for the non-communication cases. Consequently, the Commission proposals under Article 260(3) TFEU are binding as regards the maximum amount of the penalty. In the context of the calculation of the lump sum, the Court clarified that the calculation of the duration of the infringement starts from the transposition deadline of directive.

The principle of primacy of EU law is grounded in the principle of equality before the Treaties. It ensures equal rights for everyone across the EU, meaning that all provisions of EU law should have the same meaning and are to be applied in the same way in all Member States. In October 2022, the Commission adopted the Communication Enforcing EU law for a Europe that delivers setting out its work to ensure that EU law is complied with and individuals and businesses can benefit from the same rights across the EU. The Communication is structured around six major themes, that can all play a role in improving timely and correct transposition: 

  1. increased cooperation with Member States and specialised authorities
  2. increased transparency and monitoring
  3. technical assistance and financial support available from the Commission
  4. possible use of pre-infringement process for faster compliance
  5. use of infringement procedures to mainly tackle breaches with the biggest impact on the interests of people and businesses
  6. flexibility in response to crises.

The Annual Single Market Report was first published in 2021. The third edition was published by the Commission on 31 January 2023, complementing the publication of the 2023 Single Market Scoreboard alongside it. It marked the 30th anniversary of the EU’s Single Market and took stock of the integration of the Single Market over the last 30 years. It highlighted the benefits and key achievements for people and businesses, and its impact on growth and jobs in the EU. It also discussed the Single Market from a longer-term perspective through the current challenges that the EU is facing (increasing geopolitical tensions, global competition, climate change and strategic dependencies risks).

In particular, the report explored the potential of new approaches, partnerships and collaborative tools in strengthening trust among authorities and of better cooperation in addressing persisting Single Market barriers and obstacles. It also touched upon the potential of digital technologies and user-friendly e-government solutions to help reduce the administrative burdens on businesses and administrations.

The Communication “The Single Market at 30”, published on 16 March 2023, highlighted how the Single Market is the EU’s key asset and driver of its competitiveness and major factor of the EU’s economic resilience during crises; it also provides a crucial geopolitical lever that boosts the EU’s standing and influence in the world. However, the Single Market must continue to adapt to new realities and take account of the changing geopolitical environment, technological developments, the green and digital transitions and the need to boost the EU’s long-term competitiveness and productivity. A collective effort, based on joint ownership of the Single Market at EU and national level, is required to continue maintaining and deepening it, and harnessing its full potential.

Looking ahead, the Commission called for a renewed focus on enforcing existing Single Market rules, supported by benchmarks to address the deficits related to transposing and implementing EU rules. It also underlined the importance of removing national barriers, in particular barriers to providing services across borders, and in the industrial ecosystems with the greatest potential for economic integration (retail, construction, tourism, business services and the renewable energy sector).

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