EU tells Luxembourg to speed up copyright rules
Luxembourg and 22 other countries will need to explain to EU authorities why they have not yet put rules to protect copyright online into law, or face the risk of being dragged before the bloc's top court.
In a so-called infringement procedure, the European Commission has asked the countries to provide reasons why they did not meet a 7 June deadline and implement the rules. If the countries still do not comply, the Commission could take them to the European Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg.
The rules aim to protect individual copyrights on internet platforms such as Google, Marketplace and news websites.
The European Commission clamps down on hundreds of breaches of EU rules every other month, a Commission spokeswoman said on Tuesday, opening infringement procedures against countries not respecting the rules.
Last month, the Commission took Luxembourg before the European Court of Justice after it failed to put new EU rules to stop money laundering into law. The Commission asked the court to impose a daily penalty on the country. Luxembourg admitted it had missed the deadline and said that “because of the health crisis and the particular complexity (...) this work required some time”.
The countries who have not enacted the copyright rules had two years to adapt their national laws. The Commission on Monday sent formal notice letters asking them to explain how they intend on enacting the rules.
Luxembourg's Economy Minister, Franz Fayot, put forward a draft law to parliament on 24 June, but the Chamber has yet to adopt it.
The other countries were Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia and Slovakia.
Luxembourg, along with 20 other countries, will also have to explain why it has not transposed another EU rule concerning copyright on TV and radio.
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