site.btaEuropean Commission Presents Data on Progress of Six Infringement Procedures Against Bulgaria

The European Commission presented data on the progress of six infringement procedures against Bulgaria on Thursday.

The European Commission calls on Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia to comply with the reporting obligations under the Noise Directive

The European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure by sending letters of formal notice to Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia for failing to comply with the Noise Directive. The Noise Directive identifies noise pollution levels and triggers the necessary action as a response, such as appropriate urban planning and noise protection measures. The Directive requires Member States to adopt maps showing noise exposure within major agglomerations, along main railway lines, main roads and around major airports. These strategic noise maps serve as a basis for defining measures to help reduce noise pollution in the noise action plans. Member States are also required to inform the Commission of the findings of the strategic noise maps so that it can draw up a report covering the situation of noise exposure in the EU. These six Member States have failed to report to the Commission all relevant information on the strategic noise maps, including noise exposure of the population. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia, which now have two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

The Commission calls on Bulgaria, Estonia and Ireland to correctly transpose EU law combating racism and xenophobia

On Thursday the European Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Ireland and reasoned opinions to Bulgaria and Estonia for only partially and incorrectly transposing the Council Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia. The aim of the Framework Decision is to ensure that serious manifestations of racism and xenophobia, such as public incitement to violence or hatred, are punishable by effective, proportionate, and dissuasive criminal penalties throughout the European Union. The Commission considers that Ireland has not fully transposed the provisions related to incitement to hatred or violence, including the condoning, denial or gross trivialization of international crimes and the Holocaust. The Commission also sent a letter of formal notice to Estonia in October 2020 and to Bulgaria in February 2021. The Commission considers that Estonia and do not correctly transpose the provisions related to the definition of the offence of incitement to hatred or violence, including the condoning, denial or gross trivialisation of international crimes and the Holocaust. Moreover, Bulgarian, Estonian and Irish laws do not, or not correctly, qualify the racist or xenophobic motivation as aggravating factors for all criminal offences or ensure that national courts can take this motivation into account when defining the sentences. The Member States now have two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to send a reasoned opinion to Ireland as well as to refer Bulgaria and Estonia to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The Commission also calls on Bulgaria to correctly transpose EU rules on the right of access to a lawyer and to communicate upon arrest

On Thursday the European Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to Bulgaria  for failing to correctly transpose into its national legislation the Directive on the right of access to a lawyer and to communicate upon arrest.  The Directive is one of the six Directives that make up the EU's legal framework on common minimum standards for fair trials ensuring that the rights of suspects and accused persons are sufficiently protected. It strengthens Member States' trust in each other's criminal justice systems and thus facilitates mutual recognition of decisions in criminal matters. The Commission considers that Bulgaria has failed to correctly transpose into its national law several elements of the Directive: provision on the scope of application of the procedural rights and on the effective participation of the lawyer during questioning; and on the derogations from the right of access to a lawyer due to investigative needs. The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Bulgaria on 13 March 2024. The grievance related to the scope of application of procedural rights is a systemic issue that concerns also the other procedural rights Directives. Therefore, the Commission has decided on Thursday to issue a reasoned opinion to Bulgaria, which now has two months to respond and take the necessary measures addressing the shortcomings identified by the Commission. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The Commission urges Bulgaria and Sweden to comply with cross-border judicial procedures on European Arrest Warrant

On Thursday the European Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Sweden  and an additional reasoned opinion to Bulgaria for failing to comply with the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States. The European arrest warrant (EAW) is a simplified cross-border judicial procedure to surrender a requested person for the purpose of prosecution or executing a custodial sentence or detention order. Operational since 1 January 2004, the EAW has replaced the lengthy extradition procedures that existed between EU Member States. The Commission sent letters of formal notice to Sweden in February 2021 and to Bulgaria in February 2022. Moreover, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Bulgaria in July 2023. The Commission has concluded that Sweden has failed to fully or correctly transpose into its national law the following provisions of the Directive: on the right to a retrial after an in absentia judgment; on privileges and immunities; on the ground for refusal based on lack of double criminality in conjunction with the provision on the possibility of a hearing pending a decision on the EAW. Bulgaria notified new national legislation that resolved previously identified grievances. However, other amendments to national law raise new issues of conformity with the Directive, which is why the Commission sent an additional letter of formal notice to Bulgaria on 24 April 2024. The Commission considers that Bulgaria failed to correctly transpose provisions on the decision to keep the requested person in detention and the material conditions necessary for effective surrender of the requested person. The Commission is therefore sending a reasoned opinion to Sweden and an additional reasoned opinion to Bulgaria, which now have two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to refer Bulgaria and Sweden to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The Commission decides to reduce financial penalties for Bulgaria in response to its partial transposition of EU rules on European electronic tolling

On Thursday the Commission decided to lower the financial penalties it proposed to the European Court of Justice against Bulgaria in response to Bulgaria's partial transposition of the European Electronic Tolling Service (EETS) Directive. In April 2023, the Commission had referred Bulgaria to the Court of Justice of the European Union for not having transposed the EETS Directive. The lack of transposition creates interoperability issues between Member States' electronic toll systems and hinders cross-border enforcement of road fees. It also means that drivers might be required to have more than one subscription contract, single provider and on-board unit to drive to or across Bulgaria. The transposition deadline for this Directive was 19 October 2021. The Commission started the infringement proceedings against Bulgaria in November 2021. Since Bulgaria remained in breach of its obligation to transpose the Directive, the Commission decided to refer the case to the Court in April 2023, with a proposal to impose financial sanctions. Since then, Bulgaria has transposed part of the Directive. The Commission is therefore proposing to the Court a reduction of the penalties originally proposed to reflect this partial transposition and Bulgaria's effort.

The Commission calls on Bulgaria to correctly transpose the Motor Insurance Directive

The European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure by sending a letter of formal notice to Bulgaria for incorrectly transposing the Motor Insurance Directive. Under Bulgarian law, for certain injured parties, mandatory motor vehicle insurance covers compensation for non-material damage resulting from a relative's death in an accident. However, this amount is lower than the minimum required by the Motor Insurance Directive. The Commission considers that this does not comply with the obligations imposed on Bulgaria under the Directive. The Commission is therefore sending a letter of formal notice to Bulgaria, which now has two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.