Bulgaria goes to court for access to a lawyer and for vignettes
Bulgaria will have to face two new cases against the European Commission, filed before the EU Supreme Court on the non -implementation of European legislation on vignettes and for access to a lawyer.
The European Commission filed the claims on Wednesday, requesting a fine by the court after prolonged criminal procedures, led against Sofia, which, in her opinion, did not give a satisfactory result.
The user pays for both air and noise
Bulgaria will have to defend itself before the EU Court of Justice for the reasons why it has not introduced the changes to the European Vignette Directive of 2022, according to which the cost of air pollution and noise pollution, CO2 emissions and congestion should be calculated. It introduces the principle according to which they are paid by pollutants, ie. from vehicles on the road.
The European Commission is losing patience with powerlessness in Sofia: six criminal procedures and a case against Bulgaria
According to the requirements, these costs are included in the price of the vignette, based on CO2 emissions from the vehicle in order to reduce emissions and promote cleaner heavy goods vehicles.
In her claim to the court, the European Commission states that, in response to her request from December, the Bulgarian government sent her a schedule to make the legislative amendments made by the National Assembly, but this did not happen, and therefore she believes that « the current efforts to take the necessary measures by the national authorities are insufficient. »
The deadline for transposing the Directive into National Law has expired on March 25, 2024.
Access to a lawyer
At the last renewal of the criminal procedure last March, gaps were established in three areas: incorrect scope of the rights under the Directive, lack of guarantees for the effective participation of a lawyer in case of questioning and incorrect description of the cases in which the right of a lawyer in the interest of the investigation may be refused.
The European Commission now reports that, in response to its communication with the Bulgarian authorities, it has received satisfactory explanations only on the measures to notify an appropriate responsible adult when a child is detained. The other questions – for the derogations from access to a lawyer and for the lawyer’s participation in the interrogations – no permission was found.
The green deal in aviation
In this case, the European Commission wants the EU court to force the authorities in Sofia to apply European law without seeking financial compensation.
The Commission continues five more criminal procedures that are already running for Bulgaria, calling for it to accelerate the introduction of The EU Emissions Trade System Directiveto include aviation and maritime transport, as well as reducing the amount of quotas and free quotas that were accepted by virtue of the green transaction.
Bulgaria refrained to the new rules for trading CO2 emissions in the EU
The deadlines for this have expired at the end of 2023.
| “Changes increase ambition in aviation sector And they apply the circuit to compensate and reduce carbon emissions in international aviation. The complete transposition of these directives is essential to ensure the proper functioning of the EU emission trading scheme, avoiding internal market violations and to bring the system into line with EU climate objectives for 2030, defined in the European Climate Act, « the European Commission’s reasons say. |
She gives Sofia two months for reaction before she brought a court case against her.
The unfulfilled recovery plan
The Bulgarian authorities receive a warning and that they do not apply to the Fifth Directive on Capital Requirements of 2013 and The Directive for persons submitting irregularities since 2019
The Fifth Capital Requirements Directive determines the prudent requirements for credit institutions, focusing on management, supervision, capital adequacy and risk management.
The Directive for persons reporting irregularities establishes rules and procedures for the protection of persons reporting violations of EU law.
The requirement to supplement the directive for reports is part of the commitments made from Bulgaria to receive a second payment on the recovery plan, which had to be fulfilled in 2023.
MPs have canceled the corruption production restriction on signals 2 years ago
Parliament accepted the amendments on April 30, but it is not clear from the European Commission’s announcement whether the changed deadlines are all the remarks on which Brussels has requested in connection with the criminal procedure.
Digital unpunishedness
On Wednesday, the committee calls on Bulgaria to observe The Digital Services Actby defining the National Digital Services Coordinator to monitor its application. This was to be done by February 2024.
Another obligation that the Bulgarian legislators have not fulfilled is to determine the rules of sanctions when the law is violated.
EU changes the rules of content, advertising and personal information online
« The full implementation of the legislation is crucial for the further improvement of sustainability and capacity to respond to incidents of public and private entities operating in these critical sectors and the EU as a whole, » the Commission wrote in its letter to the Bulgarian government, giving it a period of 2 months to get a job.
