Signalling ‘compliance’: The link between notified EU directive implementation and infringement cases

Asya Zhelyazkova and Nikoleta Yordanova

European Union Politics, 2015, vol. 16, issue 3, 408-428

Abstract: Research on member states’ compliance with European Union legislation often focuses on the timing of self-reported implementation measures. It is generally assumed that the earlier a member state adopts an implementation measure the more compliant it is. This is problematic because early measures may only partially address the goals of a European Union directive. We study whether and when reporting national legislation to signal directive implementation is associated with detected non-compliance by the European Commission. We find that unless facing strong reputational costs, member states often do report pre-existing measures of low fit to a given directive without making timely adjustments. Indicating compliance problems, this generally leads to the European Commission opening infringement cases.

Keywords: Compliance; EU directives; infringement cases; implementation measures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:16:y:2015:i:3:p:408-428

DOI: 10.1177/1465116515576394

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