On September 18, the European Commission (EC) referred Bulgaria and Romania to the European Court of Justice because of the lack of availability single European emergency number 112 and lack of caller location for 112 calls.

Bulgaria had already received a letter of formal notice in October 2007 and a last warning in April 2008. However, in Bulgaria the single emergency number is still not operational nationwide, the EC said in a statement on its website.

In view of Bulgaria's ongoing efforts in to make 112 fully operational by the end of the year, the EC decided to postpone the execution of the September 18 decision by three months to give Bulgaria one last chance. "Failure to fully comply in the next three months will lead to the cases being filed with the European Court of Justice," the media statement read.

"Although some efforts have been made by both Bulgaria and Romania on the implementation of the single European emergency number 112, we cannot be complacent when it comes to the safety of our citizens. Any delay on the implementation of 112 can put the lives and health of travellers at risk. I call on Romania and Bulgaria to fully and quickly implement number 112", European Union telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said.

"I expect the many political commitments made by Bulgarian […] authorities to guarantee the full functioning of 112 to be taken very seriously. Their deadline for making 112 fully operational was 1 January 2007, so today's decision […] will be immediately executed if there is the slightest doubt about full respect of EU law at the end of the year," Reding said.

The EC requires all EU member states to provide their citizens with the possibility to use a single emergency number free of charge nationwide from any type of telephone. "They must also ensure that 112 calls are answered and handled efficiently and that operators provide information on the caller's location to emergency services," the media statement said.