Portugal Receives Six Letters of Formal Notice From Brussels, Covering the Right to Repair, Money-Laundering Registers, Hydrogen and Three New Drugs

The European Commission sent Portugal six letters of formal notice on Friday, 25 September, in a single package aimed at member states that have let EU directives pass their transposition deadlines without writing them into national law. The list runs from consumers' right to have broken appliances repaired to the registers that show who really owns a company, and it includes three synthetic drugs that Portugal has not yet added to its legal definition of a narcotic.

A letter of formal notice is the first formal step in an infringement procedure. Portugal now has two months to reply, finish the job and notify Brussels. If the answer does not satisfy the Commission, the next step is a reasoned opinion, and after that the case can go to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The six files

Right to repair. Directive (EU) 2024/1799 gives consumers the right to ask a manufacturer to repair products such as smartphones, washing machines and fridges even after the legal guarantee has run out, at a reasonable price and within a reasonable time. A second, delegated directive, (EU) 2026/74, extends the scope to domestic indoor heaters: fireplaces, portable electric heaters and floor heaters. Both were due by 31 July 2026. Portugal is one of 18 member states cited on each. We reported the missed deadline at the end of July.

Beneficial ownership registers. The sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, (EU) 2024/1640, required member states by 10 July 2026 to open their registers of beneficial owners to competent authorities, supervisory bodies, the firms that must run anti-laundering checks, and people with a legitimate interest. Eighteen countries, Portugal among them, have not declared full transposition of those provisions.

Three new drugs. Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2025/2062 adds the psychoactive substances 2-MMC, NEP and 4-BMC to the EU definition of a "drug", which brings them under the common rules on trafficking offences and penalties. The deadline was 12 July 2026. Portugal is named alongside Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.

Hydrogen and gas. The recast Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas Directive, (EU) 2024/1788, updates the rules for the natural gas market and sets out the first framework for dedicated hydrogen pipelines and infrastructure. It was due on 5 August 2026. Only Italy notified full transposition in time, so 26 countries received letters.

Industrial and livestock emissions. The updated Industrial Emissions Directive, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1785, tightens emission rules for large industrial plants and livestock farms, extends its reach and creates a new right to seek compensation for health damage caused by illegal pollution. No member state met the 1 July 2026 deadline, so all 27 were cited. Portugal already has a separate problem under the older version of this law: in July the Court of Justice ruled that Portugal had transposed it incorrectly.

What is not on the list

The same package cited 18 countries for the new electricity market rules on free choice of supplier and energy sharing, and 20 for the revised Anti-Trafficking Directive. Portugal is not named in either of those two groups.

What it means for residents

For now, nothing changes on the ground. A directive sets out what national law must achieve, and rights such as the repair obligation reach consumers through the Portuguese act that transposes it, which is the gap this procedure is meant to close. Portugal is far from alone: five of the six directives in its share of the package caught at least 18 member states, and two caught 26 or more.

The Commission's announcement is published as INF/26/1834 in its press corner.