Belgium has twice been fined over €2 million this year by the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to temporarily transpose directives into national law.
The Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs confirms that Belgium must pay these fines to the European Commission.
Member States are obligated to ensure compliance with EU law, which includes the transposition of directives. These directives establish a specific objective, but it is up to the Member States themselves to determine the national legislation to achieve that objective.
Directives always include a deadline, and missing that deadline can result in a referral to the Court of Justice of the EU.
Convictions are rare, as the European Commission prefers to work with the Member States to find a solution. A recent example is the missed deadline for submitting the Belgian Energy and Climate Plan, for which Belgium received guarantees that the Commission would not take further action if the plan were submitted. In recent months, Belgium has been hit twice, receiving fines totalling over €4.4 million.
In the first judgment, dated 22 May, Belgium was ordered to pay a lump sum of €2.1 million for late transposition of the directive on open data and the reuse of public sector information. The deadline for transposing this directive was 17 July 2021, but the Brussels-Capital Region, the Walloon Region, the French-speaking Community, and the Federal Government were late.
The second judgment, dated 1 August, involved a lump sum of €2.35 million because the directive on work-life balance for parents and caregivers was transposed into law too late. The Federal Government, the Walloon Region, the French-speaking Community, and the German-speaking Community missed the deadline of 2 August 2022.
After these deadlines passed, the Commission sent Belgium several formal notices, in accordance with the applicable procedures, before ultimately appealing to the Court.
Meanwhile, the directives have been transposed, resulting in Belgium being ordered to pay a lump sum to the Commission and no penalty payments. The Foreign Affairs Ministry confirms that the convictions are no longer subject to appeal.
The Ministry, which coordinates the transposition of the directives, emphasised in a statement that the ultimate responsibility lies with the competent ministers. "The two convictions are an unfortunate outcome, but we hope this will serve as a wake-up call for all Belgian authorities."
"As the coordinating service, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has made enormous efforts to identify sore points, including the division of powers, and to seek solutions at both the Belgian and European levels." A spokesperson further emphasised that the Belgian authorities are certainly not ill-intentioned, but that sometimes things go wrong.
According to the European Commission website, there are currently 73 infringement proceedings pending against Belgium for incorrect application of EU law – this concerns both the incorrect or untimely transposition of directives and the incorrect application of regulations, treaties, and decisions that are binding on all Member States.
Belgium, along with Hungary, ranks sixth among EU countries with the most procedures. In terms of transposition delays (the percentage of missed deadlines) Belgium ranks fourth.
The complex structure of the country certainly plays a role in this: often, different levels of government are responsible for transposing legislation, meaning the process often takes longer than in other Member States.
