Various member states of the EU have asked the European Commission to benefit from further time in implementing the provisions contained in the new Directive relating to disability. News of the request for extra time is given by the “disabled persons” intergroup, composed of MEPs of the 25 member states, in the last number of their newsletter. The Directive in fact made provision for supplementary time in implementing the provisions, if requested. France and Sweden have asked for a three-year postponement of the deadline, while the UK and Denmark have requested a single year. Again according to the newsletter, infringement procedures are expected from the European Commission: in other words, legal redress presented to the European Court of Justice against those states that have failed to apply the Directive in their national legislation. The states in question are thought to be Germany, Luxembourg, Greece, Austria and Finland. Even graver is the situation of another country, the Czech Republic, where the Directive is still blocked in the national Parliament.
