Germany takes longer than many of its peers to follow orders from Brussels, the European Commission’s single market report shows, pointing to the wider threat the bloc’s lethargic policy implementation poses to competitiveness.

When the EU takes decisions, the work does not stop there as orders issued at the EU level via a ‘directive’ must be enshrined into national law before they take effect.

Notably, the latest edition of the EU Commission’s 2024 Single Market Report, published in February, highlights how this process leaves room for delays, misapplication, and negligence.

“Almost all members observe almost all principles of European law and almost all of their obligations almost all the time,” Matthias Ruffert, a legal scholar at the Humboldt University, told Euractiv, referencing a famous quote from international-law scholar Louis Henkin.

Facing potential enlargement, officials have highlighted the threat that slow and patchy implementation of EU policies poses to the bloc’s capacity to act and its competitiveness, especially where it affects its largest economy, Germany.

In its report, the Commission graded Germany’s performance in adopting EU single-market rules in the lowest tier for the first time since 2017.

“In terms of the [timely implementation of EU directives], Germany is indeed performing worse than many other countries,” Oliver Treib, a legal scholar at the University of Münster, told Euractiv.

Widening gap between Germany and France

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On average, nearly two years go by between single-market legislation passing in Brussels and it entering statute books in Berlin, which places Germany in the bottom third among EU countries. By comparison, it takes less than one year in France.

The contrast also shows in longer-term trends. Since 2005, Paris has reduced the share of laws whose transposition is behind schedule to 0.1% of all directives – “close to the perfect score”, the Commission noted.

Meanwhile, Germany has plateaued at around 1% since then, within the target rate, but among the six worst-performing countries in the EU in 2023.

Germany “also frequently has problems” with accurately adopting the legal content, as “compliance is sometimes subordinated to political priorities,” Treib added.

According to the Commission report, only Hungary performed worse than Germany on that parameter in 2023.

Germany’s complicated system

Despite slower-than-average transposition, Ruffert believes the country does take EU law seriously.

“Germany is not a member state that serially breaks European law on purpose, unlike, for example, Hungary,” he stressed.

Processes are delayed by a complicated political system designed after World War II to prevent a rapid authoritarian takeover.

Ruffert added that divisions within Germany’s system also run through its governments ever since declining majorities have forced opposed parties to form complicated coalitions.

Germany is trying to address this via cross-departmental monitoring processes, a BMWK spokesperson told Euractiv.

However, that is still different from “centralised France,” where “more can simply be adopted by presidential decree”, said Miriam Hartlapp, an expert on Franco-German politics at the Free University Berlin.

“The IRA becomes a reality within one day.”

There are fears that the EU’s limited capacity to swiftly enforce economic policy is a handicap – especially if Germany, its economic engine, is affected – as the bloc is entering into a global competition with actors such as the United States and China.

“When the United States passes the Inflation Reduction Act, it becomes reality the day after,” a senior French government official said at a recent conference of the Jacques Delors Centre think tank. “We see the massive effect that it has on the industry already.“

Things need to be faster, as the bloc might swell to 35 members, multiplying national implementation processes and the risk of delays, the official added.

German lawmakers have echoed this sentiment. Chantal Kopf, the Greens’ lead MP on European affairs, told Euractiv that companies complain that EU tools are “too slow, for example, to implement the green transition”.

Resistance to more regulations

There is a sense that the appetite for implementing more EU policies immediately by using regulations rather than directives is low among members such as Germany, partially for practical concerns.

“Rules that are adapted to national specificities can be applied more easily than strict regulations,” explained Treib.

Kopf cited the example of winemaking in her native region, which, she claimed, would have become all but impossible had the provisions of the planned Sustainable Use Regulation come into force.

“Besides, the accurate application of regulations can be just as challenging as with directives,” Hartlapp said.

Overall, the trade-off between acknowledging specific national realities and competitiveness has proven a headache for the EU.

But, reconciling the supposedly opposing forces appears unavoidable, Kopf insinuated: “The EU’s thinking needs to become more practical.”

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