EC directives must be transposed into the national legal order of the member
states within a specified deadline. Although member states are obliged to notify
their transposition measures, they often fail to comply with these deadlines.
Distinguishing between domestic and EU-related factors, this study examines
transposition failure and delay of EC directives from 1986 to 2002. Notification
failure is found to be more likely when there is conflict between the member
states during the EU legislative process. National patterns of transposition
timeliness are shown to vary significantly, and higher levels of complexity and
increased use of parliamentary legislation, as well as more federalist and
pluralist structures, contribute to delayed compliance.