Better lawmaking, single market: making rules more effective. Annual report 1997

In a communication to the European Parliament and the Council, the European Commission insists on the need to make single market rules more efficient and combat "shortcomings in the transposition of directives". Over a period of one year, the percentage of directives which have not been transposed in the Member States as a whole has dropped by half from 35% in June 1997 to 18% on 1 May 1998. This trend should be maintained and the Commission will monitor closely the efforts of the Member States in this area and insist on additional progress. It is therefore calling for the introduction of an informal mutual information and dialogue mechanism between the Member States and the Commission during the period of transposition, in order to establish a common approach. Civil servants in Member States should be encouraged to share their know-how and experience in the application of single market rules, not only on an ad hoc basis but also in a more structured manner. The Commission confirmed that it will have no hesitation in instituting infringement proceedings against Member States which fail to honour their obligations.�