One of the European Commission's tasks is to ensure member states adopt the European Union's legislation correctly.

"By the end of last year, a total of 35 infringement proceedings were pending, of which 15 related to late transposition of directives and 20 to incorrect transposition or implementation," said Kerstin Meresma, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told ERR.

Statistics shared by the ministry show Estonia had the highest number of issues in 2021.

Meresma's said the initiation of infringement procedures partly depends on how many directives there are in a given year that must be transposed into Estonian law and their contents.

So far, Estonia has not been fined for failing to adopt legislation on time, nor for any other violation procedure, the spokesperson stressed.

However, last August, ERR reported that Estonia faces fines for delaying the adoption of legislation connected to whistleblowing and competition law. Meresma said Estonia has not yet paid anything, as the court's decision has not yet been issued. "The European Court will decide the final amount," she said.

The Whistleblower Directive should be been transposed into law by December 17, 2021, but has still not been completed. The Commission fines countries €600 every day over the deadline.

Nele Grünberg, an employee of the legal department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the minimum that the commission usually requires in such a case is €168,000.

"The European Commission has proposed to the Court of Justice to recover certain sums, but the procedure is pending before the Court and Estonia has contested the amount," Meresma explained. She said it is not known when the judgment will come.

The infringement procedure consists of several stages, starting with a letter to the member state and ending in court. Most disputes are settled before going to court.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs represents Estonia in the European Court of Justice and in violation proceedings initiated by the European Commission. Last week, the ministry gave the government an overview of the ongoing court and infringement proceedings.

At the same time, not all lawsuits concerning Estonia concern infringement proceedings. 

Erki Kodar, Undersecretary of Legal and Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a press release that the most important cases in the ministry's area of ​​responsibility concern sanctions imposed on Russia and their continued validity. Estonia has eight ongoing court proceedings concerning sanctions. 

These concern the ban on transmitting and spreading Russian propaganda, providing legal aid services to the Russian government and legal entities established there, EuroChem Group's connection with persons supporting the Russian government, and the possibility of listing the family members of leading entrepreneurs operating in Russia on the list of restrictive measures.

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