site.btaBulgaria Referred to EU Court of Justice for Failing to Transpose Proportionality Test Directive

The European Commission announced Monday that it has referred Bulgaria, along with Cyprus, to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to ensure the correct transposition of the Proportionality Test Directive into national legislation. The said directive obliges EU Member States to assess the proportionality of any new national regulations of professions and seeks to prevent unnecessarily restrictive regulation of professions from coming into effect.

Member States were obliged to transpose the directive into national law by July 30, 2020.

According to the EC, Bulgaria failed to ensure that parliamentary amendments undergo a prior proportionality assessment. In addition, Bulgaria has not implemented a mechanism to ensure independence and objectivity of proportionality assessments prepared by professional organizations. Similarly, Cyprus failed to ensure that all measures covered by the directive, particularly those initiated by professional bodies or parliament, undergo a prior proportionality assessment. In addition, Cyprus incorrectly implemented several proportionality assessment criteria laid down in the Directive and failed to ensure appropriate provision of information and involvement of stakeholders. The EC considers that efforts by the authorities were insufficient so far and is therefore referring Bulgaria and Cyprus to the EU Court of Justice of the European Union.