Directives. Portugal is among the worst offenders.

Portugal continues to face a structural set of delays in transposing EU directives. From special taxes to the energy and digital sectors, the cases reveal a recurring difficulty in translating European deadlines into timely national legislation. The European Commission (EC) has been increasing the pressure, with several infringement proceedings underway and formal notifications that could have financial consequences if the situation persists.

More than just approving legislation, it is necessary to ensure that EU provisions are effectively incorporated and applied on the ground. Brussels has already opened several infringement proceedings against Portugal, placing the country among the Member States with one of the highest transposition deficits in the European single market: 1.0%, above the European Union average of 0.8%, according to the 2025 Single Market Scoreboard, with data up to December 2024.

European Commission figures regarding the transposition gap in Member States show that Portugal is in the top 5, surpassed only by Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain and Poland. However, the trends in the transposition gap have been decreasing since 2021, rising only slightly from 2023 to 2024. And, regarding the compliance gap, Portugal is more or less in the middle of the table.

The European Commission underlines that the shortfall is not limited to the number of missing directives, but also includes the incomplete or incorrect transposition of European Union legal acts. Consequently, some cases could lead to significant fines imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), placing Portugal among the countries with the highest rates of non-compliance.

There are several cases. Last November it became known that Portugal could have to pay 100 million euros for not transposing the directive on special areas of conservation (SACs). The delay was more than 30 years, but the current government approved legislation this year that avoided this fine.

At sunrise, the Government argues that it "received a heavy burden with regard to infringement proceedings for failure to transpose or implement European regulations, which at the time totaled 64 infringement proceedings (of which 21 were awaiting dismissal)."

These last two governments, led by Luís Montenegro, he adds, "have made a continuous effort to undertake the necessary steps for the transposition or execution of these acts," arguing that "this work has allowed them to reverse the previously observed trend, albeit conditioned by the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic."

According to the Executive, the number of active procedures to date is 59, with 21 procedures awaiting archiving. It confirms that the transposition deficit in 2024 was 1%, thus meeting the EU target, "but in 2025 the provisional deficit is 2.4%, which is due to the aforementioned dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic, with the consequent lapse of the legislative proposals pending in the Assembly at that time, as well as the fact that the Government was in a caretaker role for about 3 months, which prevented the necessary progress of the legislative procedure."

When questioned about the difficulty in transposing the overdue directives, the Government states that the process of transposing and implementing European regulations "constitutes a highly complex political-legal process, requiring constant harmonization between European Union law and the national legal system." It adds that, in addition to the systematic monitoring of legislative projects under development at the European level, "a significant number of previously approved regulations remain that require transposition or implementation." The completion of these processes, it further states, "requires close coordination between multiple public entities, as well as collaboration with representatives of the private sector, in order to ensure regulatory coherence, regulatory effectiveness, and the proper integration of European provisions into the national legal, economic, and institutional context."

Looking at this year's figures, he adds, 19 European Union directives have been transposed into Portuguese law, and the archiving of 21 infringement procedures by the European Commission is awaited. "The Government has submitted 10 draft laws to the Assembly of the Republic for the transposition or implementation of normative acts of European Union law, which are awaiting scheduling for discussion and approval," he concludes.

Case taken to court.

In the middle of this year, the European Commission warned Portugal about shortcomings in transposing several European Union directives, such as those related to renewable energy, wastewater, insurance, and road transport.

Aware of this situation, the Portuguese Government announced that it would transpose "with utmost urgency" a set of overdue directives, after the European Commission decided to take the country to the Court of Justice of the European Union for non-compliance. At issue were, among others, Directives (EU) 2020/262 and (EU) 2020/1151, relating to excise duties, in particular on alcohol and alcoholic beverages – whose transposition deadline expired at the end of 2021.

However, the Government worked on the matter and the President promulgated on October 6, 2025, the decree authorizing the Executive to adjust the Excise Tax Code, adapting it to European directives. The decree, already published in the Official Gazette, amends "various rules applicable to the circulation of products subject to excise taxes," partially complying with Directive (EU) 2020/262.

The European Commission also decided in October to bring an action against Portugal before the Court of Justice for failing to transpose into national law the EU rules on the posting of drivers in the road transport sector, Directive (EU) 2020/1057. The transposition deadline expired in February 2022, and only Portugal and Bulgaria failed to comply. According to Brussels, "the efforts of the national authorities have been insufficient to date, and therefore the Commission has decided to bring an action against Bulgaria and Portugal before the CJEU, requesting the application of financial sanctions."

Other cases

Among the most relevant cases are directives that define essential rules for the internal energy market and for the green and digital transition, such as the Renewable Energy Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and (EU) 2023/2413, the Electricity Market Directive (EU) 2019/944 and the NIS2 Directive (EU) 2022/2555 on cybersecurity. In several of these cases, the EC has already issued reasoned opinions, the last step before an action in the CJEU.

The energy sector is one of those with the greatest number of delays. Brussels accuses Portugal of incomplete or late transposition of directives regulating the internal electricity market and promoting the use of renewable sources. The most recent, Directive (EU) 2023/2413 (RED III), which reinforces clean energy targets, had a transposition deadline of May 21, 2025, a date that was not met. Brussels has already notified the Portuguese government for failing to communicate the measures adopted, paving the way for a formal infringement procedure.

However, in September 2025, the Luís Montenegro government announced the opening of a public consultation on the legislation transposing the Renewable Energy Directive. According to the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, "this is a decisive phase in the process of transposing a crucial European directive for the implementation of national energy policy, aligning Portugal with international commitments to energy transition and decarbonization."

The European directive regulating the electricity market, which expired in January of this year, has also not been finalized. Nevertheless, this week the government put the draft law out for public consultation.

In the digital domain, the transposition of Directive NIS2 (EU) 2022/2555, which establishes minimum cybersecurity requirements for businesses and public entities, was also not completed by the deadline of October 17, 2024. Portugal received a 'reasoned opinion' from the Commission in May for failing to communicate national measures. Despite this, the Assembly of the Republic approved Law No. 59/2025 in September, authorizing the Government to complete the transposition, which is currently in the regulatory phase.

Another relevant dossier concerns small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Delegated Directive (EU) 2023/2775, which amends Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU, updates the criteria for company size, adjusting balance sheet limits, turnover and number of employees to inflation. Portugal did not notify the transposition by the deadline of 24 December 2024, which led the EC to issue, at the beginning of 2025, a reasoned opinion on non-compliance.

This directive is especially important because it determines the accounting and tax framework for thousands of Portuguese SMEs, and may influence their audit and financial reporting obligations.

Looking at these delays, Portugal is among the countries with the highest number of infringement proceedings opened due to transposition delays.

According to official data, the main ongoing cases involve taxation (special taxes), road transport, energy, digitalization, and SMEs. If delays persist, the Court of Justice of the European Union could impose significant financial sanctions – a risk that the Government itself has already publicly acknowledged.

While Brussels exerts pressure, Lisbon tries to make up for lost time: between June and October 2025, legislation was approved or enacted in key areas such as special taxes, VAT for small businesses, and cybersecurity.

It remains to be seen whether national implementation will keep pace with the demands of European targets and whether Portugal will finally manage to get off the list of Member States that are lagging behind in transposing European law.