Dutch Lag Behind on EU Laws

Despite pledging to do so, the Dutch government has not managed to eliminate the backlog of EU law that still has to be implemented before its EU presidency starts this week. The delay in transposing EU regulation into national law in the Netherlands has actually grown in the last year, according to Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. The Dutch, who take over at the EU helm on 1 July, now lag behind in implementing around 65 EU directives - which is 15 more than one year ago. Last April, the European Commission published its latest two-monthly progress reports on the implementation of EU directives in all EU member states. In comparison to one year ago, the Dutch slipped from being an above-average performer to being a relative under-performer in the run-up to their presidency. The Netherlands, along with 8 other member states, was taken to the European Court of Justice by the Commission for not implementing an EU copyright directive. (EUobserver.com)