According to the EU Commission, Germany and the Netherlands have stopped them from publishing reports and figures - initially requested by the German Press Agency (DPA) - about the scandal which saw millions of eggs pulled from store shelves in the summer.

According to The Local, German authorities officially refused to make the information public.

"If users of the rapid alert system fear publication of their reports, there will be delays in communication," states the EU Commission when explaining the German position.

Dutch authorities have given tactical reasons for their refusal, stating that publication of the information could bring "irreversible damage" to the investigation.

Germany and the Netherlands were countries which were particularly hard hit by the scandal.