To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many EU directives have been transposed by his Department and its predecessor Departments since 1997; and how many of them were transposed beyond the minimum requirements of the original directive. (112690)

DEFRA was formed in June 2001. Information relating to DEFRA's predecessor Departments is not held centrally. Between 8 June 2001 and 31 December 2006, 203 EU directives for which DEFRA has responsibility for implementation were adopted. The Department has transposed 153 of these.

Details of all directives in force can be found on the Eur-Lex database available on the European Union's website at:

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex