The European Commission took action against more than half of the European Union's member states on Friday for not implementing some of the bloc's financial market laws.
EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said failure to introduce the laws denied people and businesses the full benefit of a single market from measures the governments have themselves agreed.
"The Commission will do all it can to help member states implement laws on time, but will continue to take remedial action where necessary," McCreevy said in a statement.
THE EXECUTIVE TOOK THE FOLLOWING ACTION:
-- Slovenia and Britain will be taken to the European Court of Justice for not having introduced EU laws on activities and supervision of institutions that supervise occupational pensions
-- Portugal has been referred to the court for not introducing EU laws on the reorganisation and winding up of credit institutions
-- the executive has sent an official warning to Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain for not introducing rules that ensure that authors of graphic art get a share of the profit made from the successive sales of their original works by art market professionals
- Britain has been warned for not introducing rules on the recognition of professional qualifications from Gibraltar
-- Luxembourg is being asked to comply with a court ruling that it must introduce EU accounting rules.
-- Austria is being taken to court for failing to implement properly EU rules on transparency of financial relations between member states and public services.