Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – European Commission has taken Bulgaria and Cyprus to the Court of Justice for failing to implement the Proportionality Test Directive.
The European Commission has announced that it decided to bring Bulgaria and Cyprus to the Court of Justice of the European Union over failing to ensure the proper transposition of the Proportionality Test Directive into national legislation.
The Proportionality Test Directive compels Member nations to consider thoroughly, before their adoption, the proportionality of any latest national regulations of professions. It also aims to stop unnecessarily restrictive regulations of professions from coming into effect. Member States were compelled to transpose the directive into national law by 30 July 2020.
How did Bulgaria and Cyrpus fail to implement the test Directive?
According to the European Commission, Bulgaria neglected to ensure that parliamentary amendments undergo a preliminary proportionality assessment. In addition, Bulgaria has not executed a mechanism to ensure the independence and impartiality of proportionality assessments designed by professional organisations, e.g., through examinations of such proportionality reviews by supervisory or independent bodies.
Likewise, Cyprus also failed to confirm that all actions covered by the directive, especially those created by professional bodies or parliament, experience a prior proportionality review. In addition, Cyprus poorly implemented several proportionality assessment standards laid down in the Directive and failed to ensure the proper provision of information and engagement of stakeholders.
The European Commission stated that it launched these infringement cases as a component of a broader infringement package against Member nations that failed to adequately transpose the Proportionality Test Directive. The commission also highlights that a reasoned opinion was dispatched to Bulgaria and Cyprus on 18 October 2023, augmented by an additional reasoned opinion to Bulgaria on 25 July 2024. The European Commission assesses that actions by the authorities have, to date, been inadequate and thus took Bulgaria and Cyprus to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
