IMCO adopted (27 - 0 - 1) this non-legislative opinion on the state of implementation of Council Directive 2003/8/EC, acknowledging the unsatisfactory situation as reported by the Commission and indicating a number of specific actions that could remedy it, such as creating a data base of lawyers that would fit cross-border legal-aid demand, designating a central office in each Member State to receive and transmit legal aid applications, improving the availability of forms related to legal-aid and other European proceedings, and better information campaigns. Contrary to the Commission's conclusion that increased efforts to raise awareness will be enough to improve the implementation of this Directive, IMCO also called for its adequate revision to remedy the present shortcomings.
Source : © European Union, 2013 - EP