Not really . There is a legal framework to go after nations which do not sufficiently translate eu law into national law. So the important lines are not up to the national governments and they can ultimately not do how they please. I do agree though that in practice in can be slow moving and that there is fishy stuff going on around what is prosecuted and what is not. I think Hungary is a good case to explain this as they continuously try to play the union: sometimes it kinda works but a lot of the times they get “punishment” in the form of the eu withholding funds etc… it’s not a perfect system but I think saying that they are only encouraged and that it’s up to the national governments is an overstatement. If the eu says “here is GDPR” it is happening, if the eu says “here is limits to nitrogen pollution” it is happening.
Not really . There is a legal framework to go after nations which do not sufficiently translate eu law into national law. So the important lines are not up to the national governments and they can ultimately not do how they please. I do agree though that in practice in can be slow moving and that there is fishy stuff going on around what is prosecuted and what is not. I think Hungary is a good case to explain this as they continuously try to play the union: sometimes it kinda works but a lot of the times they get “punishment” in the form of the eu withholding funds etc… it’s not a perfect system but I think saying that they are only encouraged and that it’s up to the national governments is an overstatement. If the eu says “here is GDPR” it is happening, if the eu says “here is limits to nitrogen pollution” it is happening.
i am thinking more about countries with state alcohol monopolies, or extreme data retention policies.