The European Commission today decided to start an infringement procedure against Bulgaria for failure to notify about its long-term strategy in accord with the requirements by Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on the management of the Energy Union and on actions in the field of climate.

With its regular package of decisions, the Commission today started procedures for the same noncompliance also against Ireland, Poland, and Romania.

Under the regulation, Member States are obliged to prepare and submit to the Commission their first long-term strategy, which covers at least 30 years, and subsequently new strategies every 10 years.

To speed up the process of adopting Bulgaria’s Long-Term Strategy for Low-Carbon Development, the interim Minister of Environment and Water Rositsa Karamfilova took immediate action, and the draft, which had been developed more than two years ago with support by the EC, was published on the portal for public consultations on September 1 this year. Due to the great interest, the deadline for the consultation was extended until October 14, and the aim is to have the Strategy adopted in the second half of October. This will allow Bulgaria to report compliance with its commitment within the deadline for responding to the official notification letter for the start of the infringement procedure.

With the fulfillment of the obligation to inform the Commission about the actions taken to adopt the Strategy the procedure will be closed.

Among today’s decisions by the EC is a reasoned opinion under the infringement procedure regarding the review and update of the maps of areas under threat and at risk of floods. Reasoned opinions were also received by Greece, Cyprus, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia (for which the infringement procedure was started at the same time as Bulgaria).

To remedy the violation on the part of the Bulgarian state, the leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Water actively worked in recent weeks to attain maximum progress. As a result of its considerable efforts, the EC was informed on 26 September that updated flood hazard and risk maps have been prepared for the 127 identified areas with significant potential flood risk. They are determined based on the results from the Updated Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment and in accord with the requirements by the National Methodology for Mapping the Threat and Risk of Floods.

The updated maps are to be submitted to the EC through the European Water Information System. To this end, the necessary organization has already been created and actions have been taken to carry out the reporting.

The European Commission also adopted a decision to close infringement procedure No. 2019/0303 for failure to transpose within the set deadline the Commission Directive (EU) 2018/350 of March 8, 2018 amending Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to environmental risk assessment of genetically modified organisms. The decision is due to the fact that full compliance of Bulgarian legislation with the provisions of the Directive had been ensured through the amendments to the Law on Genetically Modified Organisms (promulgated in the State Gazette No. 45 of 17.06.2022).