site.btaEC Takes Action Against Bulgaria over Access to Corporate Public Information, e-Evidence, Banking Supervision

The European Commission (EC) announced on Friday that it is taking action against Bulgaria, among other Member States, for failing to notify the Commission of transposing EU directives into its national law.

The deadline to transpose these directives has expired recently, the EC said in a press release. These Member States were given two months to reply and complete the transposition of the directives. If they fail to do so, the Commission may issue a reasoned opinion. 

The EC decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to Bulgaria and 18 more EU Member States (Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden) for failing to fully transpose the European Single Access Point (ESAP) Omnibus Directive to ensure investors' access to corporate public information. The ESAP Omnibus Directive is part of the broader ESAP legislative package aimed at providing investors and stakeholders with a centralized mechanism offering easily accessible, comparable and usable public information. This enhances company visibility to investors, potentially increasing sources of financing, benefitting small companies in small capital markets, who may attract more attention from both EU and international investors. The legislative package contributes to the integration of EU capital markets. It should facilitate the financing of EU companies, drive growth and boost job creation in the EU. The deadline for the transposition of changes was January 10, 2026.

The Bulgarian Parliament amended the Public Offering of Securities Act in late February, establishing a European Single Access Point, providing centralized access to publicly available information of relevance to financial services, capital markets and sustainability from July 2027.

The EC sent a letter of formal notice to Bulgaria and 21 more Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden) for failing to communicate full transposition of the e-evidence Directive. The Directive provides national authorities with a reliable channel to obtain e-evidence from service providers in the EU even if their headquarters are in a third country. By supporting the work of judicial and law enforcement authorities, it contributes to make EU citizens safer. Under the Directive, all service providers offering services in the EU must designate a legal representative or a designated establishment to receive, comply with and enforce requests to gather electronic evidence from law enforcement authorities. Public prosecutors or judges in the EU can quickly obtain data relevant to criminal investigations or proceedings from a company based outside the EU by contacting its EU legal representative. Member States had until February 18, 2026 to transpose the Directive into their national law.

The EC decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to Bulgaria and 21 other Member States (Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden) for failing to fully transpose the amending Sixth Capital Requirements Directive. CRD6 aims to harmonize the rules for the provision of banking services by third-country undertakings in the EU, by subjecting them to a set of minimum requirements and minimum harmonized rules for the provision of services. It also seeks to harmonize supervisory powers and tools in a number of areas, such as prudentially relevant transactions, periodic penalty payments, fit-and-proper assessments and independence of supervisors. It benefits EU citizens by providing financial stability, ensuring that banks can provide loans and services to citizens in all economic circumstances. The deadline to transpose the Directive into national law was January 10, 2026.