Article at DerivSource.com, key quote below, with link to the original:

This still leaves the problem of the ability of the industry to put in place the vast infrastructure required to comply with EMIR, and most concede that what “hitting the deadline” means could be open to a classic civil servant style of fudge. Although EMIR will be “live” on January 1, 2013, the reality is that most of it will be implemented over the course of 2014 and 2015. “It is more the subtle point about what does hitting the deadline really mean,” says Herbst, “I suspect what we will actually have is a bit of a fanfare but in the real world there will be a more staggered implementation, so [ESMA] are almost speaking with a forked tongue. I would be quite surprised if that isn’t what happens.”

via EMIR Deadline: Industry Concerned about Uncertain Timeframes for Compliance with New Derivatives Regulation | Derivsource.