EU Commission Initiates Infringement Procedures Against Bulgaria Over Untransposed Rules and Energy Charter Treaty Withdrawal

Brussels Calls for Compliance

The European Commission announced on January 30, 2026, the initiation of several infringement procedures against Bulgaria. These actions stem from Bulgaria's failure to fully transpose a range of EU directives into its national law and its continued membership in the Energy Charter Treaty. The Commission has issued letters of formal notice, marking the initial stage of the infringement process, across multiple key areas of EU policy.

Key Areas of Non-Transposition

The infringement package highlights Bulgaria's shortcomings in implementing EU legislation across several vital sectors. These include:

• Data Protection: Specifically concerning rules on information exchanges related to terrorist offenses within the EU data protection framework (Directive (EU) 2023/2123).
• Financial Services: Directives related to financial services contracts concluded at a distance (Directive (EU) 2023/2673), which aim to enhance consumer protection for online and remote financial transactions.
• Consumer Credit: Rules governing credit agreements for consumers (Directive (EU) 2023/2225), designed to ensure transparency and fairness in the credit market.
• Crypto-Assets: Failure to fully implement new tax transparency and information exchange rules regarding crypto-assets (Directive (EU) 2023/2226).
• Taxation: New information exchange rules on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (Directive (EU) 2025/872).
• Budgetary Frameworks: Incomplete transposition of requirements for national budgetary frameworks (Directive (EU) 2024/1265), which includes implementing public accounting systems and considering climate change impacts in budget plans.

In a more advanced stage of the infringement process, the Commission has also sent a reasoned opinion to Bulgaria for breaching the Methane Regulation (EU) 2024/1787. This is due to Bulgaria's failure to appoint a competent authority responsible for monitoring and enforcing the application of these rules.

Call for Energy Charter Treaty Withdrawal

Separately, the Commission has urged Bulgaria to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty. This call comes after the European Union and Euratom formally withdrew from the treaty in June 2025. The EU views the Energy Charter Treaty as outdated and incompatible with its current energy and climate ambitions.

Next Steps for Bulgaria

Bulgaria now has a period of two months to respond to the letters of formal notice and to complete the transposition of the outstanding EU rules into its national law. Failure to provide a satisfactory response or to take the necessary measures could lead the Commission to escalate the cases, potentially issuing reasoned opinions or referring the matters to the Court of Justice of the European Union.