Government delay in enforcing EU directives is preventing Irish businesses taking full advantage of the EU's market, European commissioner Charlie McCreevy warned yesterday.

The former minister for finance told an Institute of Directors lunch in Dublin yesterday that the Council of Ministers had already adopted a number of directives aimed at opening up previously closed markets.

"We now need to see timely and correct implementation of these by all member states, otherwise we are left with a paper exercise that delivers nothing," said Mr McCreevy, Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services.

He added that all states should aim to have no more than 1.5 per cent of new directives outstanding at any one time. But, in a criticism of his former Government colleagues, he pointed out that the Republic had fallen behind in implementing new regulations.

"Ireland used to be at the top of the class in that regard," he told the gathering. "However, its performance has slipped a little in recent times and now stands at 2.4 per cent.

"It means that Irish businesses and citizens are not able to fully take advantage of the internal market's opportunities. That places them at a disadvantage," he said.

Mr McCreevy, who has been blocked recently by France and Germany in his efforts to create a single European market for services, told the Institute that a cross-border market in services between member states could create 600,000 new jobs. "The development of services activities across borders has therefore to be improved substantially," he said. "The question is, how and what?"

Speaking after the lunch, Mr McCreevy told The Irish Times that his office would not have the power to intervene in the takeover battle for two Italian banks for at least three months.

The commissioner has already made it clear that the Bank of Italy cannot block foreign bids for Italian institutions.

However, he said that the EU Commission's competition directorate would have immediate responsibility for Spain's Banco Bilboa Vizcaya's bid for Italy's Banca Nazionale de Lavoro and Dutch player, ABN-Amro's bid for Banca Antonveneta.

Mr McCreevy said that the competition directorate would have 25 days to approve either merger, while the Bank of Italy would have a further two months to make its decision.