EC opens new infringement case against Bulgaria on methane rules
The European Commission said on July 17 that it opened a new infringement case against Bulgaria for failing to comply with bloc’s rules on methane emissions.
Specifically, Bulgaria has not appointed a competent authority responsible for monitoring and enforcing the application of the rules set out in the Methane Regulation (EU) 2024/1787.
The Commission opened the new case by sending a letter of formal notice, the first stage of EU infringement proceedings. Should Bulgaria fail to notify the appointment of a methane oversight body, the EC may decide to escalate the infringement proceedings by issuing a reasoned opinion.
The EC said that it was taking the step of sending reasoned opinions in eight existing cases against Bulgaria, as part of its latest infringements package.
These reasoned opinions were sent in cases concerning Bulgaria’s failure to correctly transpose the Waste framework directive, public procurement rules, the services directive, the directive on the resilience of critical entities, the directive on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings, the directive on certain aspects of the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities of banks, as well as the directive on VAT rules and EU VAT rules for the special SMEs scheme.
Should Bulgaria fail to address the Commission’s concerns laid out in the reasoned opinions in the next two months, the EC can choose to refer those cases to the ECJ.
(European Commission headquarters Berlaymont building. Photo: JLogan)
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