The European Commission has given Romania, alongside other 12 European countries, two months to transpose EU rules laying down criminal penalties against sea pollution and other environmental offences. Directive 2008/99/EC on criminal law measures to protect the environment should have been introduced in national law by 26 December 2010. However, ten countries (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia) have so far failed to do so. At the same time, Romania has failed to comply with separate rules on pollution from ships. The same applies to other seven states: Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia.