The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has mandated that Bulgaria pay a lump sum penalty of EUR 1.9 million following the delayed transposition of the European Electronic Tolling Service (EETS) Directive, according to a recent press release. The CJEU determined that Bulgaria failed to meet its obligations under the specific directive by not adopting and notifying the required national legislation to the European Commission by the deadline of October 19, 2021. The purpose of this European directive is to guarantee the interoperability of electronic road toll systems throughout the European Union and to streamline the cross-border exchange of information concerning unpaid road charges.
Although the court proceedings noted that Bulgarian authorities eventually adopted and completed the necessary legislative measures, resulting in the European Commission withdrawing its request for periodic penalty payments, the commission maintained its demand for a lump sum penalty. Crucially, the CJEU rejected arguments presented by Bulgaria citing political instability and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The judgment established that, according to established case law, a Member State cannot use internal difficulties to justify non-compliance with its obligations under EU law.
The court specified that invoking force majeure is only permissible when extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances that cannot be avoided are proven, a condition the CJEU found was not met in this instance. Consequently, the Court imposed the specified financial penalty on Bulgaria.
Topics: #directive #bulgaria #european
