EC opens infringement proceedings against Bulgaria on electricity risk plan
The European Commission said on April 6 that it opened an infringement proceeding against Bulgaria for “failing to submit” an electricity risk preparedness plan and escalated two existing cases as part of its latest infringements package.
EU member states are required to submit electricity risk preparedness plans under Regulation (EU) 2019/941, which aims to prevent, prepare for and manage electricity crises in “a spirit of solidarity and transparency among member states while respecting the requirements of a competitive internal market for electricity,” the EC said in a statement.
This requires member states to “notify certain information to the Commission,” which Bulgaria has failed to do. The country has two months to reply to the Commission’s letter of formal notice.
The Commission said that it also sent Bulgaria two reasoned opinions, the second stage in the infringement process, on existing cases regarding rules on clean vehicle targets and open data use.
In the first case, the Commission said that Bulgaria was one of five EU member states that failed to communicate their national measures to transpose EU rules on the public procurement of clean vehicles, listed in Directive (EU) 2019/1161.
That directive sets national targets for the public procurement of clean vehicles, as a “minimum share of clean vehicles within the total number of vehicles publicly procured in a member state during the reference periods 2021-2025 and 2026-2030,” the EC said.
In the second case, Bulgaria was among 10 EU member states that are yet to communicate information about how EU rules on open data and the reuse of public sector data, outlined in Directive EU 2019/1024, have been transposed in national law.
The directive in question “aims to unlock the benefits of data and helps to make more of the vast and valuable pool of data resources produced by public sector available for reuse,” stimulating the development of innovative solutions such as mobility apps, increasing transparency by opening the access to publicly funded research data, and supporting new technologies, including artificial intelligence, the Commission said in a statement.
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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