In its monthly package of infringement decisions, the European Commission is pursuing legal action against Member States for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law. These decisions, covering various sectors and EU policy areas, aim to ensure proper application of EU law for the benefit of citizens and businesses.
The key decisions taken by the Commission (including 9 letters of formal notice, 54 reasoned opinions, and 5 referrals to the Court of Justice of the European Union) can be found here. The Commission is also closing 122 cases where the issues with the Member States concerned have been solved without the Commission needing to pursue the procedure further.
For more information on the EU infringement procedure, see the full MEMO/12/12. For more detail on all decisions taken, consult the infringement decisions’ register.
Below you will find a summary of the decisions concerning Cyprus
Digital Single Market: Commission urges 19 Member States to implement cost reduction rules that will help deploy more broadband
The European Commission has asked Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom to implement measures of cost reduction in deploying high-speed electronic communications networks (Directive 2014/61/EU; see a related press release here). These rules seek to increase the sharing and re-use of existing physical infrastructure across various sectors (energy, transport, etc.) and should cut by up to 30% the cost of rolling out high-speed internet. In March 2016, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to all Member States which had failed to transpose the measures into national legislation so far, and several of them then notified the Commission that they had fully implemented the Directive. Cost reduction rules support the strategic connectivity objectives that the European Commission has recently proposed (see related press release here): by 2025, all main socio-economic drivers, such as schools, universities, research centres, transport hubs, all providers of public services such as hospitals and administrations, and enterprises relying on digital technologies, should have access to extremely high – gigabit – connectivity (allowing users to download/upload 1 gigabit of data per second); all European households, rural or urban, should have access to connectivity offering a download speed of at least 100 Mbps, which can be upgraded to Gbps, and all urban areas as well as major roads and railways should have uninterrupted 5G coverage, the fifth generation of wireless communication systems. As an interim target, 5G should be commercially available in at least one major city in each EU Member State by 2020. Member States had until 1 January 2016 to transpose the Directive into national legislation. The Commission is sending to the remaining 19 Member States a final warning today. These countries now have two months to notify the Commission of measures taken to bring national legislation into line with EU law; otherwise, the Commission may decide, in accordance with EU infringement rules, to refer them to the Court of Justice of the EU and to propose financial sanctions.
(For more information: Nathalie Vandystadt – tel.: +32 229 67083, Marie Frenay – tel.: +32 229 64532)
Free movement of professionals: Commission urges Member States to transpose EU rules on recognition of professional qualifications
The European Commission requested today in reasoned opinions 14 Member States to transpose Directive 2013/55/EU on the recognition of professional qualifications. The Directive provides a modern EU system for the recognition of professional qualifications, simplifies existing rules and accelerates recognition procedures while ensuring that qualified professionals wishing to work in another Member State respect the requirements of the host country. The Directive should have been transposed into national legislation by 18 January 2016. However, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom have not yet communicated to the Commission the complete transposition of the Directive into their national law. The Member States now have two months to notify the Commission of the full transposition of the Directive; otherwise, the European Commission may decide to refer them to the Court of Justice of the EU.
(For more information: Lucia Caudet – tel.: +32 229 56182, Maria Sarantopoulou – tel.: +32 229 13740)
The European Commission actively pursues the correct the implementation of European rules on explosives precursors
Regulation (EU) No 98/2013 on the marketing and use of explosives precursors became applicable in all 28 EU Member States in September 2014. It sets out a common EU-framework to prevent the misuse of certain chemical substances that can be used as explosive precursors. Most Member States have fully implemented the Regulation, but in certain Member States, not all provisions are fully implemented. That is why the Commission has launched infringement procedures with a letter of formal notice today against Cyprus, France, Luxembourg and Spain. Under the Regulation, Member States are required, inter alia, to set up national contact points for the reporting of suspicious transactions and significant disappearances and thefts of the regulated substances. Member States are also required to disseminate guidelines and apply penalties. If Member States choose to not maintain a complete ban of substances, they must notify the Commission of exceptions under a licensing or registration regime. The concerned Member States now have two months to submit their observations. The correct implementation of the regulation on explosive precursors is an important element of both the European Agenda on Security and the Commission’s Communication on the way forward towards a genuine Security Union.
