EU Warns UK Not to Drag its Feet

According to a recent article from Reuters the EU is planning to get tough on member states that do not implement the new cookie regulations quickly enough.

The UK is one of only four of the 27 member states that have actually implemented the EU Directive into local law.

With an understanding of the difficulties involved in achieving compliance with the new regulations, the ICO (responsible for enforcing them in the UK) has given everybody a year from the initial implementation date to get their houses in order, with a promise not to take any enforcement action.

Yet the EU, in the form of Commissioner Neelie Kroes is apparently not happy with this situation, and has said the commission would be strict in making sure states applied the new rules.

When you consider that so many of the major European economies have yet to implement anything – Germany, France, Italy and Spain among them – it seems a little unrealistic of the EU to expect any changes to happen over night.

Yet this is a clear signal that sitting back and waiting for other to take action is at best going to be viewed in hindsight as a little short sighted.

At worst it could lead to rushed, last minute decisions that turn out to be costly, not least in defending complaints that have the weight of the European Commission behind them.