Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 60: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the outstanding untransposed EU directives within his portfolio and the deadline for each; the number of warnings received from the Commission for each unimplemented directive; the number of directives successfully transposed since January 2006; the timetable for further directives he intends to transpose during the current Dáil session; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32033/06]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 65: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of reasoned opinions received by his Department from the European Commission relating to European legislation already transposed that have not been resolved to the Commission's satisfaction; the date on which each of these was received; the timetable for each of these issues to be resolved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32065/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 60 and 65 together.

There are four Directives due for transposition before 31 December 2006 by my Department as follows:

1. Council Directive 2001/86/EC supplementing the Statute for a European Company with regard to the involvement of employees

Transposition Deadline: 8 October 2004

2. Directive 2004/22 EC. . . of 31 March 2004 on measuring instruments

Transposition Deadline: 30 April 2006

3. Directive 2003/72 EC supplementing the Statute for a European Cooperative Society with regard to the involvement of employees

Transposition Deadline: 18 August 2006

4. Directive 2003/58 EC of 15 July 2003 amending Council Directive 68/151/EEC (First Company Law Directive), as regards the disclosure requirements in respect of certain types of companies

Transposition Deadline: 31 October 2006

Eight Directives are due to be transposed by my Department in the first half of 2007 as follows:

1. Directive 2006/2/EC of 6 January 2006 amending, for the purposes of its adaptation to technical progress, Annexe II to Directive 96/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain methods for quantitative analysis of binary textile fibre mixtures.

Transposition Deadline: 6 January 2007

2. Directive 2006/3/EC of 9 January 2006 amending, for the purposes of their adaptation to technical progress, Annexes I and II to Directive 96/74/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on textile names.

Transposition Deadline: 9 January 2007

3. Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on minimum transparency requirements for listed companies.

Transposition Deadline: 20 January 2007

4. Directive 2004/108/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility and repealing Directive 89/336/EEC.

Transposition Deadline: 20 January 2007

5. Directive 2006/8/EC of 23 January amending for the purposes of their adaptation to technical progress, Annexes II, III and V to Directive 1999/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations.

Transposition Deadline: 1 March 2007

6. Directive 2006/15/EC of 7 February 2006 establishing a second list of indicative occupational exposure limit values in implementation of Council Directive 98/24/EC and amending Directives 91/322/EEC and 2000/39/EC.

Transposition Deadline: 12 June 2007

7. Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive)

Transposition Deadline: 12 June 2007

8. Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-using products and amending Council Directive 92/42/EEC and Directives 96/57/EC and 2000/55/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Transposition Deadline: 11 August 2007

The following Directives are due for transposition during the latter half of 2007 to 2010:

1. Directive 2006/15/EC of 7 February 2006 establishing a second list of indicative occupational exposure limit values in implementation of Council Directive 98/24/EC and amending Directives 91/322/EEC and 2000/39/EC.

Transposition Deadline: 9 August 2007

2. Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for Energy-Using Products and amending Council Directive 92/42/EEC and Directives 96/57/EC and 2000/55/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Transposition Deadline: 11 August 2007

3. Directive 2005/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 on cross-border mergers of limited liability companies.

Transposition Deadline: 15 December 2007

4. Directive 2004/40/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields) (18th individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC).

Transposition Deadline: 29 April 2008

5. Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on statutory audits of annual and consolidated accounts, amending Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC and repealing Council Directive 84/253/EEC.

Transposition Deadline: 6 June 2008

6. Directive 2006/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the minimum Health and Safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to risks arising from physical agents (artificial optical radiation) (19th individual Directive within the meaning of article 16(1) of directive 89/391/EEC).

Transposition Deadline: 27 April 2010

In relation to Council Directive 2001/86/EC, the Commission issued a Letter of Formal Notice on 13 December 2004 and a Reasoned Opinion on 18 October 2005. The Commission issued proceedings on 31 July 2006 under Article 226 of the EC Treaty for failure to transpose this Directive into Irish law. In that regard, draft Regulations were sent to the Attorney General's Office for settling on 28 September 2006. It is intended to have the Regulations completed by the end of December 2006.

The Commission made application to the European Court of Justice on 15th April 2005 against Ireland under Article 226 of the EC Treaty for incorrect transposition of Directive 92/100/EC (Rental and Lending rights in the field of Intellectual Property). The drafting of amending legislation is currently taking place in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. It is proposed to publish the legislation in early 2007.

Due to the collective efforts of my officials over the past few months in addressing transposition issues, my Department has successfully transposed 18 Directives (and partially transposed one Directive) since January of this year. In addition to Directive 2001/86/EC, it is intended that Directives 2003/58/EC, 2003/72/EC and 2004/22/EC will be transposed during the current Dáil session. It is my intention to continue to make transposition of EU Directives an ongoing priority in my Department.