Can EU member states reject the new copyright legislation?

Question

The European Parliament has recently voted in favour of planned reforms to copyright legislation, including the controversial Articles 11 and 13. This BBC News article about the vote states (emphasis mine):

It is now up to member states to approve the decision. If they do, they will have two years to implement it once it is officially published.

This suggests that member states have the option to reject the new copyright laws, and choose not to implement them. Is this correct? Or will they have to implement the new laws whether they approve of them or not?

This isn't a "Please tell me Article 13 can still be cancelled!" question. A lot of people seem to believe that the new rules are now set in stone, the article seems to suggest otherwise, and I'm genuinely curious what the actual situation is.

Answer 1

This refers to the fact that the EU Council still has to vote on this directive before it can become EU law.

The EU Council (not to be confused with the European Council) consists of a representative of each of the members states' governments, usually a minister with the relevant portfolio (in this case, whichever minister is responsible for copyright law). They are, for all intents and purposes, the "upper house" of the EU legislature.

If the EU Council votes in favour of the legislation, then all member states will be required to implement it.