Belgium has been ranked the second-worst country for turning EU directives into national law in a timely manner, L’Écho reports.
In January, Belgium received an official warning from the European Commission after amassing the second-largest backlog among the 27 EU Member States in regard to implementing European directives.
The EU sets a target of a 1% backlog for unimplemented directives. As of January, Belgium was 2.3% behind this target. The EU average is a 1.1% backlog.
According to information from Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahibib, Belgium has since made progress in moving towards the EU target. In March, there were 18 directives that were belatedly transposed into Belgian law, for which the Federal Minister was at least partially responsible.
The outstanding legislation is set to be transposed sometime during the summer, at the latest. But there is still significant work to be done. Between now and 10 December another 13 directives need to be passed into Belgian law, probably as new directives that will be agreed upon this summer.
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EU directives are not applied to Member States directly. Instead, they set out objectives that EU Member States must achieve. Countries are free to decide how they meet these targets, but they are obliged to transpose the directives into national law within an agreed timeframe.
Directives can apply to a variety of goals in various policy fields. These can include climate goals, human rights improvements, and even economic targets.
