<p>The aim of this paper is to explain and compare non-compliance of two EU-directives, “the quality of bathing water” and “the working time directive”. This study answers the questions: Why didn’t Sweden implement the directive on bathing water quality and the working time directive correctly? Are the reasons for non-compliance the same or different in the two cases? The paper is designed as a case study and with an explanatory attempt we explain why the two directives weren’t implemented correctly in Sweden. The theoretical approach is based on both general- and EU-specific implementation theories. The reason why the directive on quality of bathing water wasn’t implemented correctly was firstly because of the differences between the Swedish political contents and the EU-directive’s, secondly the vague formulation that caused problems with understanding how to implement the directive. Third and lastly the implementation suffered from the lack of administrative resources. The working time directive had problems with the political contents and the resistance from the trade union and government, which caused delays with the implementation of the directive. By studying these two cases this paper concludes that there is only one point of similarity between the cases, i.e. the political contents.</p>

The aim of this paper is to explain and compare non-compliance of two EU-directives, “the quality of bathing water” and “the working time directive”. This study answers the questions: Why didn’t Sweden implement the directive on bathing water quality and the working time directive correctly? Are the reasons for non-compliance the same or different in the two cases? The paper is designed as a case study and with an explanatory attempt we explain why the two directives weren’t implemented correctly in Sweden. The theoretical approach is based on both general- and EU-specific implementation theories. The reason why the directive on quality of bathing water wasn’t implemented correctly was firstly because of the differences between the Swedish political contents and the EU-directive’s, secondly the vague formulation that caused problems with understanding how to implement the directive. Third and lastly the implementation suffered from the lack of administrative resources. The working time directive had problems with the political contents and the resistance from the trade union and government, which caused delays with the implementation of the directive. By studying these two cases this paper concludes that there is only one point of similarity between the cases, i.e. the political contents.