site.btaEnvironment and Water Minister Dimitrov: There Are Currently 19 Environmental Proceedings Pending against Bulgaria

January 15 (BTA) - There are currently 19 pending legal proceedings against Bulgaria for violating EU environmental legislation, said the Minister of Environment and Water (MOEW) Emil Dimitrov during question time in Parliament on Friday.

A total of 102 criminal proceedings have been initiated against Bulgaria since it joined the EU in 2007. Of these, 83 were closed due to the implementation of the country's commitments and elimination of violations.

Of the 19 pending procedures, 11 are in the form of a letter of formal notice (first stage of the pre-trial phase). Six of these procedures are for non-transposition of EU directives, and one of them has already been reported to the EU as completed and the procedure is expected to be closed, the Minister said. He added that three procedures are for incomplete transposition of directives, and the MOEW has taken the necessary actions. Two of the procedures are related to non-fulfillment of obligations arising from EU law, which do not require changes in the legislation, and on which Bulgaria is in constant dialogue with the EC, Dimitrov said. Three procedures are at the "reasoned opinion" stage: two are related to the application of EU biodiversity law, and the third is for the construction of waste water treatment plants for settlements with more than 10,000 population.

There are two procedures in the judicial phase, in the field of ambient air quality and marine policy. The proceedings before the Court of Justice of the EU are still pending and there is no ruling at the moment.

Rulings have been issued in respect of two criminal proceedings: one concerning a protected area at Cape Kaliakra and one about the reclamation of old landfills. Bulgaria is in constant contact with the EC and periodically reports on progress in the implementation of its commitments, said the Minister. In one of the criminal proceedings, which is related to exceeding the values of fine particulate matter, a second case is to be filed before the EU court with a request for imposition of financial sanctions, the Minister specified.

He also pointed out that the MOEW is making all necessary efforts and maintains a constant dialogue with the EC to find workable solutions and eliminate the violations.

Dimitrov also said that so far 308 projects have been contracted under the Operational Programme Environment 2014-2020, of which 137 in 2020. The value of the grant aid for these projects amounted to 3.8 billion leva. In 2020, the contracted funding amounted to 616 million leva.

The verified expenditures for European and national co-financing were 1.1 billion leva. The expenditures certified by the EC so far also amount to 1.1 billion leva.

Efforts are being made to overcome the negative consequences of the later start of projects in the water sector, as well as the difficulties in implementing projects in other sectors, i.e. "Waste", "Biodiversity", "Landslides", "Floods", said the Minister.

According to him, the pandemic situation has led to additional delays due to the extension by at least two months of deadlines for submitting bids and announcing public procurement.

The Minister noted that the announced procedures for providing grant aid under the Environment OP for the programming period 2014-2020 are 59 and amount to a total of 4.3 billion leva. RY/DT

//