EFTA takes Iceland to court

Iceland is being taken to court for failure to incorporate four European Union (EU) directives into Icelandic legislation.

Iceland is over a year late in passing legislation adopting European rules on preventing the entry of falsified medicinal products into the supply chain, on pharmacovigilance, on measures to prevent harmful emissions from internal combustion engines, and on the protection of copyright and related rights.

As a member of the European Economic Area and a beneficiary of the European internal market, Iceland is obliged to implement all EU legislation classed as having “EEA relevance”.

Taking a Member State to the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) is the last resort in the process of addressing failure to adopt necessary legislation.

Iceland has previously been informed of these infringements, given the opportunity to justify it failure to comply, and given time to rectify the situation.