The European Commission (EC) has lifted the safeguard clause for the Bulgarian aviation, as confirmed Monday before Darik radio by the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport.

The information was previously confirmed by the EC permanent representation in Bulgaria and is going to be published in the official Journal of the European Union (EU) Tuesday.

After the conclusion of the written procedure, the Bulgarian aviation is going to become an equal partner of its competitors from the other countries members of the EU, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The lifting of the clause comes as result from two inspections conducted by experts from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) - in December of 2007 and April 0f 2008. The inspections concluded that the Bulgarian aviation was now safe and that the work of the Directorate General "Civil Aviation Administration" at the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport has greatly improved.

Weaknesses in the Directorate's work have been the main reason for the safeguard clause penalty imposed on Bulgaria at the end of 2006, just before Bulgaria's joining of the EU in January of 2007.

The clause was the first one to be imposed by the EC on a country member of the EU and established different limitations for Bulgarian airline companies, including the need of special permission from Brussels to fly over Europe.

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