AMSTERDAM (CN) - Belgium, Ireland and Spain broke EU law by failing to put key protections for workers and caregivers into place, the bloc's top court ruled Friday, nearly three years after they were supposed to do so.
Back in 2019, when the European Union adopted its WorkLife Balance Directive, the goal was simple: to make life easier for people juggling jobs and family life. The law laid out basic rights such as paid paternity leave, time off for caregivers and the right to request flexible working hours.
But by August 2022 - the deadline to turn those promises into national law - none of the three countries had met the mark. Ireland managed to catch up in early 2024, but Belgium and Spain kept falling behind.
This week, the European Court of Justice stepped in and ruled that each had breached their legal duty under EU law, ordering them to pay lump-sum fines for the delay.
A deadline missed - and consequences imposed
All EU countries were supposed to bring the directive into national law by mid-2022. That meant passing clear legislation so workers could actually benefit from the rights the law promised. But Belgium, Ireland and Spain didn't meet the deadline, and the European Commission took them to court.
For Belgium, it wasn't a case of ignoring the directive altogether, but rather of failing to implement it fully. Most of the required changes had been adopted. However, the rules weren't extended to one specific sector - education and training under the Flemish Community.
Belgian officials said the missing provisions, mainly in the Flemish education and training sector, were already followed in practice through collective agreements and existing rules. They argued the directive's goals were being met without formal legislation. But the court wasn't convinced. It said EU rights must be clearly set out in binding legal terms, not left to informal safeguards.
By the end of 2023, that gap still hadn't been filled, and the Commission argued this amounted to a violation. The court agreed and ordered Belgium to pay a lump-sum fine of 2,352,000 (about $2.72 million).
Ireland eventually caught up, but not without holdups. The country passed the Work-Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act in 2023. But one of its core elements, the right for workers to ask for flexible hours, did not come into force until March 2024. That was a full 18 months after the EU's deadline.
Ireland pointed to internal administrative issues as the reason for the setbacks. But the court ruled that such setbacks do not excuse breaking EU law. In the end, Ireland was hit with a lump-sum fine of 1,540,000 (about $1.78 million), reflecting 581 days of delay. Since the country now followed through, no additional daily fines were imposed.
A spokesperson for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality said the Irisg government "takes its responsibilities seriously" but was forced to divert staff resources during 2022 to respond to the arrival of nearly 52,000 Ukrainian refugees. He added that Ireland had gone beyond the directive's baseline requirements by including a new right to request remote work, which required "a statutory Code of Practice developed by the Workplace Relations Commission, with the agreement of the social partners," causing further delay. Once the law was in force, he explained, "the European Commission withdrew their request to seek an additional daily rate penalty and sought the minimum possible fine."
Spain took a rockier path. Lawmakers had drafted a bill to meet the directive's demands, but political turbulence got in the way. Parliament was dissolved in 2023 before the bill could be passed, stalling the entire process. The government eventually stepped in with a royal decree later that year. But even then, not all requirements were covered, and Brussels wasn't properly notified of the changes.
The Spanish government claimed its national laws and collective agreements already met most of the directive's requirements, especially in the private sector. It also said public servants didn't need the same dismissal protections, since they can't be fired at will.
But the court said that isn't good enough. Member states, it said, can't avoid their duties just because national systems differ in structure or terminology.
The court ruled Spain had failed to meet its legal duties and imposed a lump-sum fine of 6,832,000 (about $7.89 million), plus a daily penalty of 19,700 (about $22,740) for each day the country remains out of full compliance.
More than technicalities
These aren't just technical slip-ups. The court made it clear that delays like these have real consequences. People were left without the legal protections they were supposed to have. The WorkLife Balance Directive wasn't just a suggestion. It was meant to offer real help to millions of Europeans trying to balance work and caregiving.
And when governments tried to explain the hold-ups, the court wasn't convinced. As the judgment put it, none of those reasons "can be taken into account as a mitigating circumstance in assessing the seriousness of the infringement at issue."
Now the message from the court is straightforward: national elections, internal procedures, or legislative bottlenecks aren't excuses. Member states have legal duties under EU law, and missing the deadline has consequences, even if compliance comes later.
The court's ruling is final on the question of whether the three governments breached their obligations. However, each country still has the right to appeal on points of law within two months of the decision. That means Belgium, Ireland or Spain could challenge how the court interpreted the legal framework, though not the finding that they missed the deadline.
For Belgium and Ireland, the legal consequences stop here. Both have now completed their implementation, so no further penalties will apply. Spain, on the other hand, remains under pressure. The daily fine will continue until the European Commission formally confirms that all national measures are in place and properly communicated.
Until then, the financial clock keeps ticking.
Source: Courthouse News Service
