Hungary has called on the European Commission to launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria over recently introduced energy transit fees, the minister in charge of European affairs said on Friday. János Bóka said on Facebook that the new Bulgarian regulations imposed an energy fee on forwarded Russian gas arriving in Bulgaria, but the new rules had been approved without preliminary information or consultation with Hungary.
The fee, he said, seriously endangered the security of energy supplies in Hungary and the entire region while contravening European Union law because “it has the effect of a customs fee, which runs afoul of EU internal market directives”. The regulations also violated the rules of the Energy Charter agreement, he added. Bóka said he had asked the EC in writing to launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria without delay and to call on Bulgaria to suspend the application of the fee while the procedure is under way. If the EC does not fulfil the request, Hungary will go to the EU court before the end of this year, he added.