Brussels, 15/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - Among the avalanche of infringement procedures launched by the European Commission on Thursday 10 July, Bulgaria received a reasoned opinion (second stage of the procedure) for still not having transposed into its national law the new EU directive on consumer rights, which was adopted in October 2011 (see EUROPE 11100).
The deadline for the transposition of the directive was 13 December 2013, in order to guarantee its entry into force on 13 June 2014. However, despite a letter of formal notice (first stage of the procedure), the Bulgarian authorities have still not remedied this shortcoming.
The Commission is concerned by this, as it will prevent Bulgarian consumers from enjoying the essential new rights guaranteed by this text, which improves price transparency, bans extra charges for paying by credit card and special telephone lines, outlaws pre-ticked boxes on the internet (when purchasing airline tickets, for example) and extends the cooling-off period from seven to fourteen days.
It is particularly important that this persistent infringement is remedied very soon, because the most recent consumer market scoreboard showed that Bulgaria is one of the eight member states of the EU in which awareness of consumer rights is unsatisfactory (see EUROPE 11111). This, moreover, is why the European Commission is currently running a campaign to make consumers aware of their rights.
Bulgaria will have two months to comply with EU law, or the Commission may refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the EU. (AN)