Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Oct 2000

Vol. 523 No. 1

Written Answers. - EU Directives.

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

310 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the directives issued under the treaties establishing the European Communities of which any provision coming under the auspices of her Department has not yet been transposed into law; if in each case such transposition will be effected by Bill or statutory instrument; if transposition is overdue in any case; if so, the steps, if any, taken by the European Commission by way of enforcement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19648/00]

Minister for Public Enterprise (Mrs. O'Rourke):

The information sought by the Deputy is in the following schedule.

	Directive	Deadline forImplementation	Means ofTransposition	EuropeanCommissionActions Taken
1.	Council Directive 96/49/EC of 23 July 1996 on the approximation of laws of the member states with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail: and Commission Directive 96/87/EC of 13 December 1996 adapting to technical progress Council Directive 96/49/EC.	11 January, 1997.	StatutoryInstrument	Reasoned Opinion issued
2.	European Parliament and Council Directive 97/66/EC of 15/12/1997. (Processing of Personal Data and the Protection of Privacy in the Telecommunications Sector).	24 October, 1998 with exception of Article 5 which is 24 October, 2000.	StatutoryInstrument	Reasoned opinion on hold
3.	Council Directive 98/20/EC of 30 March, 1998 amending Directive 92/14/EEC on the limitation of the operation of airplanes covered by Part II, Chapter 2, Volume 1 of Annex 16 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Second edition (1998).	1 March, 1999.	StatutoryInstrument	Reasoned opinion issued.
4.	Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July, 1996 on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system.	7 April, 1999.	StatutoryInstrument	Reasoned Opinion issued
5.	Commission Directive 1999/48 of 21 May, 1999 adapting for the second time to technical progress Council Directive 96/49/EC on the approximation of the laws of the member states with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail.	1 July, 1999.	StatutoryInstrument	Notice received that reasoned opinion will issue if transposition not carried out shortly
6	Council Directive 99/28/EC of 30 March, 1998 amending Directive 92/14/EEC on the limitation of the operation of airplanes covered by Part II, Chapter 2, Volume 1 of Annex 16 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Second edition (1988).	1 September, 1999.	StatutoryInstrument	Reasoned opinion issued.
7	Directive 98/93/EC on minimum stocks of crude oil which updated Directive 68/414/EEC.	1 January 2000.	StatutoryInstrument	Explanation requested for delay
8	EU Directive 96/92/EC on the internal market in electricity. This Directive has been partly implemented by the Electricity Regulation Act, 1999. Balance to be transposed	19 February, 2000.	StatutoryInstrument	No formal action taken
9.	Transposition of the European Parliament and the Council Directive 99/5/EC on Radio equipment and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment into Irish law.	7 April, 2000.	StatutoryInstrument	Explanation requested under Article 226 of the Treaty, prior to possible issuing of reasoned opinion
10	Directive 98/84/EC on the legal protection of television or Information Society services (e.g publications over the internet) which are provided on the basis of conditional access systems.	28 May 2000.	StatutoryInstrument	Explanation requested under Article 226 of the Treaty, prior to possible issuing of reasoned opinion

The transposition of the above directives into Irish law is at an advanced stage of drafting.

The mandatory provisions of EU Directive 98/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas which came into effect on 1 August 2000 have been implemented by the provisions of the Gas Acts. In addition, the directive contains a number of discretionary provisions on such matters as public service obligations, authorisation procedures etc. The question of whether, and to what extent, these discretionary provisions are to be transposed into national law is being considered. If they are to be transposed, this will be done by means of primary legislation.