The European Commission is starting a new punitive procedure against Bulgaria (and eight other EU member states) over the failure to issue on time permits for a number of industrial installations already in operations, the Commission press service announced.

The nine EU countries (Р‘elgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain) that have failed to issue industrial permits in line with the Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control have been sent a first written warning by the Commission.

The Directive aims to control industrial emissions to air, water, and soil.

Over 9 000 industrial installations in the nine states are remaining without new or updated out of a total of some 52 000 targeted industrial objects in all of the EU.

The names of Bulgaria's factories that are in operation without the complex permits have not been released but according to unofficial information the country's biggest steel-making plant Kremikovtzi is one of them.

Meanwhile, another punitive procedure against Bulgaria that started several months ago is entering its second stage - a second and final written warning before the filing of suit at the EU Court. The reasons is that the Bulgarian government still has not submitted to Brussels its project carbon dioxide emissions for 2010, 2015, and 2020.

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