[GSDI Legal Socioecon] Fines for EU Member States that do not implement EU-wide legislation

[Steven Ramage]

I remember there was some debate a few years back regarding whether it was
more cost-effective to pay any fine rather than pay all the costs to be
compliant. That is obviously a very cynical view!


> In reply to Kate's question:
>
> All of these legal proceedings start out as 'name and shame' plus 'slap
> on the wrist' exercises, to force the recalcitrant Member States to
> either (a) implement a Directive or (b) implement it more completely or
> better. Some states 'implement' Directives but not fully (as far as the
> Commission is concerned) and thus still have legal proceedings started
> against them.
>
> The usual result is that the Member State then implements the Directive
> or corrects any missing legislation at national level, enough to satisfy
> the Commission - and Court. In practice, States are (usually) given
> quite some time to rectify the situation, the EU/EC realising how long
> it can take to put new laws into place in any sovereign state. But they
> will be monitored throughout the process and if no action is taken,
> then, yes, some substantial fines can be levied.
>
> In some cases, very large fines are imposed - such as the several
> hundred million pounds that the British government had to pay a few
> years ago, in fines, for not implementing one of the farm payment
> Directives on time. In 2003, the /EU/ //// fined nine Member States //a
> total of €320 million for breaking annual milk production quotas. These
> are quite a bit more than just a 'slap on the wrist'!
>
> Regards
>
> Roger Longhorn
> ral at alum.mit.edu
>
> From: *Kate Lance* <klance_remote at yahoo.com
> <mailto:klance_remote at yahoo.com>>
> Date: Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 2:17 AM
> Subject: [GSDI Legal Socioecon] Countries facing Court procedures
> failing to transpose INSPIRE Directive
> To: SDI-legal-socioecon <legal-socioecon at lists.gsdi.org
> <mailto:legal-socioecon at lists.gsdi.org>>, SDI-Europe
> <sdi-europe at lists.gsdi.org <mailto:sdi-europe at lists.gsdi.org>>
>
>
> Can anyone on this list shed some light on what's likely to come from
> these Court procedures? Will there be fines? Were these notices just
> 'shaming' or a slaps on the wrist?
>
> http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/1566&format=HTML
> <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/1566&format=HTML>
> Estonia and Poland face Court for failing to put EU law on their statute
> books
> (Brussels, 24 November 2010, IP/10/1566)
> The European Commission is referring Estonia and Poland to the European
> Court of Justice for failing to bring EU environmental legislation into
> force. These Member States have not yet adopted legislation on spatial
> data infrastructure at national level, despite reasoned opinions issued
> to all three countries under ongoing infringement proceedings.
> The deadline for implementing legislation was 15 May 2009; which means
> that the EU member states had to bring into force the laws, regulations
> and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive on
> spatial infrastructure before 15 May 2009.
>
> http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/1241&type=HTML
> <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/1241&type=HTML>
> Austria and Sweden face Court for failing to implement EU laws on
> spatial data
> (Brussels, 30 September 2010, IP/10/1241)
> The European Commission is referring Estonia and Poland to the European
> Court of Justice for failing to bring EU environmental legislation into
> force. These Member States have not yet adopted legislation on spatial
> data infrastructure at national level, despite reasoned opinions issued
> to all three countries under ongoing infringement proceedings.
>
> http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/830&type=HTML
> <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/830&type=HTML>
> Germany faces Court for failing to implement EU laws on spatial data
> (Brussels, 24 June 2010, IP/10/830)
> The Commission is referring Germany to the EU's Court of Justice for
> incomplete implementation of Directive 2007/2/EC, establishing an
> infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community
> (INSPIRE).
>
>
>
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>


-----
Steven Ramage
Executive Director, Marketing and Communications
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)
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The OGC: Making location count.
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