EC opens three new infringement proceedings against Bulgaria

The European Commission said on February 9 that it opened three infringement procedures against Bulgaria and escalated three existing cases as part of its latest infringements package.

In one of the three new cases where the sent letters of formal notice, Bulgaria was asked to rectify the incorrect transposition of the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant (2002/584/JHA).

In the second case, Bulgaria was one of seven EU member states that the EC asked to update their flood hazard maps and flood risk maps as required by the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) on the assessment and management of flood risks.

The Commission said that the deadline for informing it about the review and updating expired in March 2020, but Bulgaria and the other member states had failed to send any information on the process, prompting the letter of formal notice.

The EC also said that it had sent a letter of formal notice to 24 member states, Bulgaria included, on January 27 with regard to the lack of transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of EU law.

Two of the three cases in which the EC sent a reasoned opinion, the second stage of infringement proceedings, related to Bulgaria’s failure to report implementation of EU rules on firearms, specifically those on alarm and signal weapons, as well as those on the marking of firearms and of their essential components.

In the third case, the EC requested that Bulgaria implements various provisions of Regulation 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species.

Bulgaria was one of three EU member states that was yet to establish a surveillance system of invasive alien species of EU concern, or include it in their existing system, although the deadline for this was January 2018, the Commission said.

Bulgaria has two months to respond to the arguments raised by the Commission in its reasoned opinions, otherwise the Commission said it may decide to bring the cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

(European Commission headquarters Berlaymont building. Photo: JLogan)

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