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The European Commission announced that it has decided to file a lawsuit with the EU Court of Justice against Bulgaria because our country has not guaranteed the full implementation of the European Court’s decision of April 5, 2017.
Subsequently, the court decision established that Bulgaria has not fulfilled its obligations under the European legislation on air quality. The maximum values allowed for particulate matter (PM10) and adequate measures have not been taken to reduce leave time, the commission said in a statement.
The lawsuit may lead to the imposition of fines for the period from the first judicial decision and for the period from the second decision until guaranteeing full compliance with the requirements, the EC said. To implement the decision, the Bulgarian side was expected to adopt and implement measures. The data presented by our country for the period 2015-2019 confirms that the persistent non-compliance established by the court continues, the announcement says.
More than three years after the decision, Bulgaria has not yet guaranteed compliance with the limit values set by European standards in all areas of air quality control. The results obtained so far are unsatisfactory as Bulgaria has not yet started to actually implement measures on the ground to ensure compliance with the limit values. Bulgaria has announced that most of the measures are being prepared or will enter into force in 2024.
In Bulgaria there are some of the largest exceedances in the EU of the annual and daily limit values for PM10, with consequent health risks. The exceedances of the daily limit values are particularly large: they are recorded in 90 days a year, that is. more than 2.5 times more than allowed by the rules, explained the commission.
