EU Commission: 5 Infringement Procedures Against Bulgaria Under Way

The European Commission announced Thursday infringement proceedings against Bulgaria in the sectors of environment, transport, healthcare, consumer rights and fishing.

One of them, regarding common airspace management, is new and was started in the past hours.

It involves Bulgaria and eleven other countries and encourages member states to work toward the goal of introducing a more effective and ecologically clean common airspace system named Single Sky.

Four other proceedings, however, started months ago, and what Bulgaria received on Thursday was a "last call".

Alongside eleven other countries, Bulgaria has not fully introduced the EU Directive on Cross-Border Healthcare and could be taken to the European Court of Justice in case of not taking measures in two months.

The healthcare directive outlines patients' rights to receive medical treatment in any EU member state and then to request reimbursement from their own country.

Excessive levels of fine dust particles are also a source of concern for the EU Commission, as Brussels argues the concentration of these pollutive particles has been above the norm since 2007, and virtually all over the country.

Infringement proceedings are also under way due to non-compliance with the Directive on Consumer Rights (which came into force across the EU on June 13) envisaging more transparent pricing, a ban on additional fees when paying with a credit card and an extended deadline to renounce a purchase agreement.

Sofia was to introduce legislative changes to adopt the directive by December 13, 2013.

Another ongoing procedure is on the lack of electronic reporting on fishing between Bulgaria and other member states. Brussels also took similar measures against Greece and Slovenia.

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