European Commission is taking Bulgaria to court on three cases

Today, April 19, 2023, the European Commission decided to refer Bulgaria and Poland to the Court of Justice of the European Union for the lack of transposition into their national legislation of the European Electronic Tolling Service (EETS) Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/520).

The EETS is a tolling system, for which EU road-users could pay tolls with a single subscription contract, through a single provider and a single on-board unit that would cover all Member States, once fully implemented.

The Directive has two objectives: to ensure interoperability between electronic road toll systems and to facilitate the cross-border exchange of information on failure to pay road fees.

Significant differences in technical specifications of electronic road toll systems could hamper the achievement of EU-wide interoperability of electronic tolls, and be detrimental to the efficiency of transport operations, to the cost-efficiency of toll systems, and to the achievement of transport policy objectives.

Failure to transpose the rules on electronic tolling is therefore an obstacle to interoperability between Member States' electronic road toll systems, and to cross-border enforcement of the obligation to pay road fees in the EU.

This 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 and Poland. Problems could also arise in enforcing road fees for non-resident offenders in these countries, and for drivers from these countries in other Member States.

The European Commission has also decided to refer Bulgaria to the Court of Justice of the European Union for non-compliance with obligations concerning the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters. The European Union is currently taking legal steps to guarantee consumers' right to information, protect them from being misled and ensure fair trade.

The Commission considers that Bulgarian legislation is not in line with the rules, in particular as it does not prohibit the marketing of natural mineral and spring waters originating from the same spring under more than one sales description as required by the Directive. Moreover, contrary to the rules, Bulgarian legislation does not require the name of the spring to be indicated on the labels of mineral and spring waters. Bulgarian legislation also allows the designation 'spring water' to be used for water that does not qualify for this term.

Today, the European Commission has also decided to refer Bulgaria to the European Court of Justice for failing to transpose EU rules setting minimum national targets for clean vehicle procurement into national law.

In Bulgaria's case, the directive requires that at least 17.6% of all light commercial vehicles, 7% of all trucks and 34% of all urban buses purchased between 2 August 2021 and 31 December 2025 must be clean vehicles, and that at least 17% of all urban buses purchased during the same period must have zero exhaust emissions. The deadline for transposition of the Directive was 2 August 2021.

The European Commission is today also calling on Bulgaria to correctly implement EU rules on market opening and rail infrastructure management. European rules creating a Single European Railway Area provide for market opening for domestic rail passenger services and the management of rail infrastructure. Companies are to operate all types of rail services anywhere in the EU. In November 2021, the EC launched a procedure on the independence and impartiality of the infrastructure manager and the additional functions of the regulatory body. As Bulgarian legislation is not yet fully aligned with the requirements of EU law, the Commission has decided to submit a reasoned opinion. Bulgaria has two months to communicate the measures taken, after which the case can be referred to the EU Court of Justice.

In the area of shipping, the Commission is asking Bulgaria and four other countries to prepare and send copies of their maritime spatial plans. European rules set out a common approach for EU countries to plan their maritime areas. EU coastal states were expected to prepare maritime spatial plans no later than 31 March 2021 and submit copies three months after publication. A two-month deadline for action has been given and a warning has been issued that the matter may be referred to the EU Court of Justice.