April 5 (SeeNews) - The Court of Justice of the European Union said on Wednesday it ruled that Bulgaria has failed to fulfill its obligations under EU law to keep dust particles under a certain limit.
Data for Bulgaria for the period 2007 – 2014 has shown a systemic and persisting non-compliance with the annual and daily limit values set by the EU air quality directive, the Court said in a ruling, posted on its website.
In addition, Bulgaria has failed to adopt air quality plans and ensure that such plans set appropriate measures to keep the exceedance period as short as possible, the Court said.
Bulgaria was referred to the Court in June 2015 after failing to act upon the received reasoned opinion by the Commission in July 2014.
If Bulgaria does not comply with the ruling, the Commission may open another infringement case with only one written warning before referring the country back to the Court. If the Commission refers Bulgaria back, it can propose that the Court imposes financial penalties on the country, which can take the form of a lump sum, daily penalty or both.
According to data, published by Eurostat on Tuesday, Bulgaria’s urban population is exposed to the highest concentration of fine and coarse particulates among all other EU member states.