BRUSSELS: The European Commission yesterday lavished praise on the Irish Government for having significantly improved its performance in implementing European Union legislation.
Commission officials said that Ireland had shown "what a few strong political instructions from the top can do" and that the republic should serve as a model for other EU countries.
The Commission was presenting figures on implementation of the EU's internal market laws. Attempts to build an efficiently operating single market have been blighted by national governments failure to implement EU-agreed law in their domestic laws. At the Gothenburg European Council of June 2001, EU leaders committed themselves to reducing their deficit in meeting these deadlines to 1.5 per cent of the near 1,600 directives.
The figures released yesterday show that for the first time Ireland is meeting this 1.5 per cent target and for the first time is ahead of the EU average. It has reduced its deficit by three-fifths since May 2003, from 3.5 per cent to 1.4 per cent. At no time previously had Ireland's deficit figure been below 2.4 per cent.
Ireland has joined a group of four countries which are meeting the 1.5 per cent target: Denmark (0.3 per cent), Spain (0.9 per cent), Finland and the UK (both 1.4 per cent). Sweden has slipped back to 1.6 per cent.
A senior Commission official attributed Ireland's marked improvement to "a presidency effect".
"We have seen from the Prime Minister's office strong political statements coming from the top, and you can see what that yields. I am sure that Mr Ahern and Mary Harney said to their officials: 'Don't make me look silly. When I sit there at a meeting, I can't lecture others if my own legislation is not in order'."
This interpretation was corroborated by Irish Government officials who confirmed that a special effort had been made.
The Commission official said the figures would be discussed at the European Council meeting of heads of state and government in March as part of their discussion of European competitiveness.
He suggested that the Irish "will want the debate to last as long as possible and others would hope that it ends as soon as possible".
The countries with the worst rate of implementation are Belgium, France and Germany with a deficit of 3.5 per cent followed by Luxembourg (3.4 per cent), Greece (3.1 per cent) and Italy (3.0 per cent).
Mr Frits Bolkestein, the European Commissioner for the internal market, said: "It is time ministers took personal responsibility for their state's performance. Ireland's halving of its implementation deficit shows what can be done when there is political will and commitment."
But his officials said that more than just political will was needed. The lagging countries had to put in place systems which increased the likelihood of directives being implemented in time. It was not just a matter of will, but also of good organisation.