The European Commission has decided to take Spain and Malta before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for not having incorporated into their national legislation a European directive that updates the criteria for classifying the size of companies. Brussels considers that both countries have exceeded the deadline to apply this rule, despite the formal notices sent during the last year.
The decision was announced on January 30 within the monthly package of infringement procedures published by the European Commission. As explained by the institution in a statement, “the European Commission has decided today to take Spain and Malta before the Court of Justice of the European Union for not having transposed the Delegated Directive with regard to the adjustment of the size criteria of micro, small, medium and large companies or groups.”
The norm to which Brussels refers is the Delegated Directive (EU) 2023/2775whose objective is to update the limits used to determine the size of companies within European accounting regulations. These limits, such as turnover or volume of assets, serve to classify companies as micro, small, medium or large companies and have been revised to reflect the impact of accumulated inflation since 2013.
The European Commission points out that this change is important to prevent small companies and SMEs from having to comply with rules designed for much larger companies, especially in matters of financial reporting and sustainability. With this update, Brussels aims to reduce unnecessary procedures and adapt the requirements to the current economic situation.
Brussels begins the procedure for non-compliance after several warnings
The deadline for Member States to transpose this directive into their national law expired on December 24, 2024. According to the Commission, “the majority of EU Member States have declared full transposition of the Directive. However, neither Spain nor Malta have yet notified their national transposition measures.”
Before going to the European court, Brussels began the formal process against both countries more than a year ago. “The Commission sent letters of formal notice to these Member States on 31 January 2025.” Given the lack of progress, the European Executive issued “reasoned opinions on July 17, 2025”, in which it urged the affected States to comply with their obligations.
The community institution considers that, despite these warnings, “the efforts of the national authorities of these Member States have been insufficient, since they have not yet notified the Commission of the full transposition of the Directive into their national law. Therefore, the Commission has decided to bring the matter before the Court of Justice of the EU,” the statement concludes.
The Commission maintains that the uniform application of this directive “is crucial for the functioning of the single market.” Unifying company size criteria means that similar companies have to comply with the same rules in all Member States, ensuring fair competition within the European Union.