The European Commission said it has issued formal notices to Bulgaria, Romania and four other EU member states, launching an infringement procedure due to their failure to enact European regulations linked to waste management, recycling and resource efficiency, according to See News.
Bulgaria, Romania, Czechia, Estonia, Cyprus and Austria have failed to correctly transpose the EU Waste Framework Directive in their respective national legislation by the July 2020 deadline, the Commission said in its November infringement package released on Thursday.
In the case of Bulgaria, legislation inaccurately reflects European provisions relating to extended producer responsibility schemes, the monitoring and evaluation of waste prevention measures and the separate collection of textiles which is to be set up by January 1, 2025.
For Romania, shortcomings were identified in the areas of end-of-waste status, extended producer responsibility, derogation from financial responsibility division, and measures to prevent waste generation.
In addition, the Commission has advanced existing infringement procedures against Bulgaria and Romania for inadequate compliance with air pollution reduction rules.
Bulgaria, along with eight other member states, received a reasoned opinion for failing to meet national emission reduction commitments, while Romania received an additional letter of formal notice due to insufficient measures in its 2023 national programme for air pollution control.
Lastly, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Bulgaria, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Portugal for their inadequate and untimely transposition of EU rules relating to cross-border conversions, mergers and divisions of companies.
All countries involved have a two-month window to address the Commission’s concerns on these various issues.
In June, the European Commission called on Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Romania to address shortcomings in their waste management approaches and to ensure compliance with EU regulations so as to meet the 2025 targets for municipal and packaging waste recycling.