European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Railway safety: Commission refers Bulgaria to the Court of Justice for failure to transpose and comply with EU rules on railway safety

European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Railway safety: Commission refers Bulgaria to the Court of Justice for failure to transpose and comply with EU rules on railway safety
Today, the Commission has decided to refer Bulgaria to the Court of Justice of the EU for failure to correctly transpose and implement EU legislation on railway safety (Directive 2004/49/EC). The Directive requires Member States to establish an investigating body which is independent in its organisation, legal structure and decision-making from any railway undertaking, infrastructure manager, charging body, allocation body and notified body, and more generally from any party whose interests could conflict with the tasks entrusted to the investigating body. Bulgaria has failed to fully transpose and implement the Directive at national level in this regard.

More specifically, Bulgarian legislation does not guarantee that investigations of serious rail accidents and incidents are performed by an independent investigating body.