July 25 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Thursday that it has sent two two letters of formal notice to Bulgaria regarding its restrictions on cross-border provision of services.
One of the issues is related to restrictions on the temporary cross-border provision of private security services, while the other concerns a legal provision that defines the duration for the temporary cross-border provision of services, the EU institution said in a monthly infringement decisions package.
"Foreign providers of security services face excessive administrative expenses that domestic providers do not face," the Commission said, adding that, for example, temporary cross-border providers are required to have an address of correspondence in Bulgaria, and the are also required to accompany all documents with an official translation.
The Commission also claims that by defining the period of time during which a provision of a service will be considered as temporary, the Bulgarian legislation violates the free movement of services principle.
Bulgaria has two months to respond to the arguments raised by the Commission, or the EU institution may decide to send a reasoned opinion, which could in turn be followed by referral to court over the issue.