The Commission is starting an infringement procedure against Bulgaria in front of the Court of Justice of the EU on the prevention of the spread of invasive alien species

The European Commission today decided to terminate 4 and start 1 new infringement procedure against Bulgaria for violations in the environmental field.

Three of the infringement procedures were at the stage of reasoned opinion, which is the last stage before referral to the Court of Justice of the EU. Procedures were already started in 2019 and 2020 for failure to meet the implementation requirements of the following three directives: industrial emissions (complex prevention and control of pollution), assessment of the impact of public and private projects on the environment; control of risk of major accidents involving hazardous substances. With the 2022 State Gazette promulgation of the changes to the Environmental Protection Act and the Ordinance on the conditions and procedures for carrying out environmental impact assessments, the violations were terminated.

The fourth criminal procedure that was terminated started in the fall of 2022 for lack of notification by Bulgaria of its long-term strategy in accordance with the requirements of the EU Regulation on the management of the Energy Union and of actions in the field of climate. Upon taking office, the interim government undertook the necessary actions to speed up the work on drafting the strategy so as to overcome the nearly two-year delay in its adoption. Bulgaria’s long-term climate change mitigation strategy until 2050 was adopted by Decision of the Council of Ministers from October 21st, 2022, which allowed Bulgaria to report to the EC on the fulfillment of its obligation.

With its decision to terminate the 4 infringement procedures, the Commission confirmed that Bulgaria had fulfilled its obligations and eliminated the committed violations of EU law.

The Commission is sending letters of formal notice to 14 Member States, including Bulgaria, regarding the reduction of emissions of several air pollutants, as required by Directive (EU) 2016/2284. The NEC directive sets national emission reduction commitments for several pollutants that countries must achieve each year in stages between 2020 and 2029, as well as more ambitious reductions from 2030 onwards. Member States are required to establish national air pollution control programs to show how these commitments will be met. The MOEW is taking the necessary actions to amend the National Air Pollution Control Program 2020-2030 and identify measures to achieve compliance with the requirements of the NEC Directive. Ammonia (originating from the agricultural sector) is the pollutant for which most Member States are not complying with their obligations. In addition to Bulgaria, infringement proedures have been started on identical basis against 13 other countries - Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Sweden.

Today, the European Commission decided to open a claim before the Court of Justice of the EU against Bulgaria for failing to fulfill its obligations under the EU Regulation on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species (IAS). The infringement procedure began in June 2021, and in February 2022 the reasoned opinion on the infringement was received. The MOEW is working actively to fulfill its obligations, and in the coming weeks additional efforts will be made to accelerate the implementation of the commitments. Additionally, this decision of the EC to file cases before the Court of Justice of the EU affects 5 other member states - Ireland, Greece, Italy, Latvia, and Portugal.