The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has mandated that Bulgaria pay a lump sum penalty totaling EUR 1.9 million. This penalty stems from the country’s failure to properly transpose the European Electronic Tolling Service (EETS) Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/520) into national law by the stipulated deadline of October 19, 2021. The purpose of the European directive is to enhance the interoperability of electronic road toll systems throughout the European Union and to streamline the cross-border exchange of information concerning unpaid road charges.
During the proceedings, the CJEU noted that while Bulgarian authorities eventually adopted and completed parts of the required legislation, the initial failure to comply was significant enough to warrant the penalty. Although the European Commission subsequently withdrew its request for periodic penalty payments, it maintained the request for a lump sum fine. Critically, the CJEU rejected the defenses put forth by Bulgaria, which cited political instability and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The judgment clarified that, according to established European Union law, a Member State cannot use internal difficulties to justify non-compliance with its obligations. Furthermore, the court ruled that invoking force majeure requires the demonstration of extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances that were genuinely unavoidable, a condition not met in this case. With this judgment, the CJEU imposed the specified financial penalty on Bulgaria for its delay in implementing the crucial European directive.
Topics: #directive #bulgaria #european
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has mandated that Bulgaria pay a penalty of EUR 1.9 million. This fine resulted from the country’s failure to properly transpose the European Electron