ZAGREB (Croatia), May 2 (SeeNews) – The European Commission said it has referred Croatia to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to enact the Mortgage Credit Directive in its national legal system.
Croatia had to transpose the directive by March 2016 but has still not complied with its obligation, the European Commission said in its April package of infringement decisions.
The main provisions of the directive include conduct rules for providers, including an obligation to assess consumer creditworthiness and disclose information, competence and knowledge requirements for staff, as well as provisions regarding certain aspects of mortgage credit, such as early repayment, foreign currency loans and others.
If the Court of Justice of the EU finds Croatia has breached the EU law, the national authorities will be obliged to take action to comply with the court's judgement. If they fail to do so, the Commission may refer the country back to the court and propose that financial penalties, which can be either a lump sum and/or a daily payment, are imposed.
The Commission also sent three reasoned opinions to Croatia urging the country to fully transpose the Payment Accounts Directive, Birds Directive and Habitats Directive.
The Payment Account Directive gives all legal EU residents the right to a basic payment account for a reasonable fee, regardless the place of residence and improves the transparency of payment account fees and makes it easier to compare and switch.
The EU directives on birds and habitats are the cornerstone of Europe's nature conservation policy as they establish the EU-wide Natura 2000 ecological network of protected areas, safeguarded against potentially damaging developments.
If Croatia fails to act within two months, the European Commission may refer the country to the Court of Justice of the EU.