July 20 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Thursday it has sent Bulgaria a letter of formal notice for not having established a Single Point of Contact as required by EU document security legislation.
Single Points of Contact, which allow for the exchange of information necessary to access the fingerprint images stored on e-passports and e-residence permits for third country nationals, should have been operational by May 2012, the Commission said in a statement.
In November 2016, the Commission referred Bulgaria to the Court of Justice of the European Union over the same matter but the procedure was subsequently withdrawn due to procedural reasons.
If Bulgaria fails to act within 4 weeks, the Commission might send a reasoned opinion, which is the next stage in the infringement procedure.