EU Commission Refers Bulgaria to Court over E-Documents

The European Commission has said it will refer Bulgaria to the Court of Justice of the EU for non-implementation of obligations it has assumed under the common law related to e-documents.

In a statement dated Monday, the Commission cites "non-implementation of the obligation to create a Single Point of Contact" for e-passports and e-residence permits.

The point should "ensure the mandatory exchange of information under the EU document security legislation" in order to access the fingerprint images stored on e-passports and e-residence permits for third country nationals.

EU member states can thus securely information on the chips contained in all biometric passports, travel documents and residence permits issued by another EU country.

Bulgaria, however, "prevents other Member States from securely accessing and verifying the fingerprints stored on the chips in Bulgarian passports" by not having implemented the necessary legislation, the Commission argues.

The Single Points of Contact should have become operational by May 20, 2012, while Bulgaria has failed to react to two warnings from Brussels, sent in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

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