"How Ireland's stock in the EU has fallen"

[Dr Strangelove]

may I just say that any failure to transpose within an EU-imposed deadline is not due to any lack of will at official level.

Having seen this from inside and outside, I don't think it's quite that straightforward.

I've seen transposition held up due to the civil servants in charge being bad at their job: not talking to national stakeholders early and often enough, not using parliamentary drafters efficiently, and often basic underestimation of the complexity of the task.

OTOH transposition is highly difficult and very easy to get wrong. Often better to take more time and get it right.

I haven't checked in a while but I don't think Ireland is particularly good or bad overall at directive transposition.

 

[Salvadore]

Having seen this from inside and outside, I don't think it's quite that straightforward.

I've seen transposition held up due to the civil servants in charge being bad at their job: not talking to national stakeholders early and often enough, not using parliamentary drafters efficiently, and often basic underestimation of the complexity of the task.

OTOH transposition is highly difficult and very easy to get wrong. Often better to take more time and get it right.

I haven't checked in a while but I don't think Ireland is particularly good or bad overall at directive transposition.

That’s fair. I’d agree with that.

 

[PMU]

As someone who has had responsibility in the past for the transposition into law of a couple of EU Directives, may I just say that any failure to transpose within an EU-imposed deadline is not due to any lack of will at official level. Within government departments, there is a requirement for monthly updates with explanations required for any anticipated delay. Failure to comply with deadlines is usually the result of the slow legislative process, lobbying from often competing affected stakeholders and often an unreasonable deadline in the first place. Political will also has an influence. Important to point out that Ireland is by no means unique in this regard although the bigger member states with a larger civil service are generally better equipped to do the necessary to comply with the deadline (which they may also have been responsible for setting in the first instance).

All this is well and good, but it’s irrelevant. 'Political will' should have nothing do do with it. Transposing directives is a treaty obligation. Member States have a legal obligation to do it and within the specified time period, typically two years. There is nothing new in this. Directives don’t just appear out of nowhere or are imposed by the EU. They are signed off by the Council of Ministers, at which Ireland is represented, and are approved by the European Parliament. Member States know that directives are being adopted and that allows plenty of time to plan for their transposition.

But in recent years Ireland has been sanctioned by the EC for failing to implement EU directives, with the Irish taxpayer paying over EUR 23 million in fines for state ineptitude. Government has paid out €23m in fines over failure to properly roll out new EU laws | Irish Independent . We’ve been in the EC/EU for over 50 years and still don’t seem to fully understand or know how to prioritize or implement our treaty obligations, which at the European-level could easily result in Ireland being viewed as a less than enthusiastic Member State.

 

[Sophrosyne]

don’t seem to fully understand or know how to prioritize or implement our treaty obligations, which at the European-level could easily result in Ireland being viewed as a less than enthusiastic Member State.

We are not the only ones and we are not the worst offenders - Monitoring the application of European law, 2023 Annual Report.

 

[Dr Strangelove]

All this is well and good, but it’s irrelevant. 'Political will' should have nothing do do with it. Transposing directives is a treaty obligation. Member States have a legal obligation to do it and within the specified time period, typically two years. There is nothing new in this.

It’s easy to be hyperbolic here.

For sure directive transposition is a basic Treaty obligation.

But to a large extent the process assumes good-faith, if slow efforts by member states to do the job.

Assessment of transposition by the Commission is very resource intensive, and legal action against member states even more so.

Personally, and with direct experience of this, poor-quality transposition is a bigger problem for the EU than slow transposition.




FWIW I feel Ireland with a unitary state has less excuse for slow transposition. A lot of member states have an upper house with real power, regional governments, long stretches with no government, and other arcane reasons for slowing down the passage of legislation.