site.btaEuropean Commission Publishes Updates on Infringement Procedures Against Bulgaria

The European Commission on Wednesday published information on the movement of five infringement procedures against Bulgaria in the fields of personal data protection, tax information exchange, explosives control, renewable energy development and waste recycling.

The Commission calls on Bulgaria, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia to comply with rules on protection of personal data and has sent these member states letters of formal notice. The Commission has found that the seven countries plus Germany have incorrectly transposed relevant EU rules into their national legislation. These member states now have two months to respond and address the shortcomings, after which the Commission will decide whether to carry on with the procedure.

Commission calls on Belgium, Bulgaria and Cyprus to finalize the implementation of the information exchange rules on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation. EU rules require member states to standardize the collection of the top-up tax information return and to automatically exchange the information in that return. The top-up tax information return is part of the filing obligations for ensuring a global minimum level of taxation for multinational enterprise groups and large-scale domestic groups in the Union. Belgium, Bulgaria and Cyprus have so far not adopted or notified all national transposition measures, while tax authorities across the EU should be able to start exchange information on multinational companies as from June 2026. The countries concerned now have two months to respond and take the necessary measures. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union with requests for financial sanctions.

The Commission calls on Bulgaria and Poland to properly implement the EU rules on the marketing and use of explosives precursors. According to the Commission, the two countries have failed to ensure the correct application of relevant EU law. Under the rules, the availability of substances and mixtures that could be misused to make homemade explosives is limited to the general public, and any suspicious transactions involving the substances must be reported to the appropriate authorities. The Commission considers that Bulgaria failed to comply with the obligations to set up one or more national contact points for reporting suspicious transactions, disappearances and thefts; to designate the competent authority for the implementation of the rules; to regularly disseminate the relevant guidelines; to lay down rules on penalties; and to contribute to the yearly Monitoring Programme. The Commission may carry on with the infringement procedure if Sofia and Warsaw fail to address the shortcomings within two months.

The Commission decided to launch infringement procedures against Bulgaria, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia for imposing restrictive mandatory authorization or certification schemes for energy installation and construction services. In these countries, as well as France, the Commission has found obstacles to the installation of renewable energy equipment. These member states have established requirements which make it difficult for installers of renewable energy equipment and providers of energy efficiency installations to work across the EU. The Commission suggests that less restrictive measures — such as ex-post controls — can be used to ensure the quality of such installation services, rather than restricting market access by imposing mandatory certification schemes or registration requirements. Furthermore, the Commission has identified cases in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Latvia and Spain, where member states impose even broader attestation and registration requirements for construction. Such national provisions and their associated obligations result in market fragmentation, make access to these activities more difficult, and restrict choice for consumers and availability of these services.

The Commission decided to continue the infringement procedure against Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Romania for failing to meet several waste recycling targets, and to open such a procedure against Germany, Greece and Cyprus. The EU has set legally binding targets for preparing for reuse and recycling of municipal waste (such as paper, metal, plastic and glass). Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Romania failed to achieve the 50% preparations target until 2020. It was required that between 55% and 80% of all packaging waste must be recycled by December 31, 2008. The established recycling goals for various materials include 60% for glass, 60% for paper and cardboard, 50% for metals, 22.5% for plastics, and 15% for wood. The Commission gives Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Romania two months to respond, after which it may decide to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.