Brussels, 19/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to begin infringement proceedings against Bulgaria for non-respect of EU environmental laws. Bulgaria will receive two warning letters (first stage of the proceedings under Article 226 on the Treaty) for failing to fully transpose the Habitats Directive (directive 92/43/EEC on conservation of natural habitats and wild fauna and flora) and the Wild Birds Directive (directive 79/49/EEC on conservation of wild birds). In the first case Bulgaria was obliged to transpose fully the Habitats Directive into national law by 1 January 2007. However, the Commission claims that national legislation does not correctly reflect the definition of sites, habitats and species as defined by the Natura 2000 network. In addition, the country also fails to provide procedures which can be used to adequately assess potential impact and compensation measures in case of development projects on the sites of the NATURA 2000 network.
In the second case, the Commission criticises Bulgaria for incomplete transposition of the Wild Birds directive. National legislation does not meet the demand of the directive on exchange of information and scientific research work on key conservation questions.
The deadline for the country's full transposition of these two directives was set for 1 January 2007.
Bulgaria has two months to answer the written warnings from the Commission. If the reply is unsatisfactory or if Bulgaria does not reply, the Commission may decide to go on to the next stage of the infringement proceedings and send Bulgaria a reasoned opinion. (an)