The European Commission (EC) issued a final warning to Bulgaria and Romania over their delay in deploying a fully functional single European emergency number, the EC said in a statement on its website.

If the two countries, which joined the bloc in January 2007, do not speed up the implementation of the emergency number infrastructure, which is required by European Union telecoms regulations, the EC's next step would be to refer the case to the European Court of Justice.

"A 112 European emergency number that works properly across the EU is crucial for ensuring the safety of our citizens,” EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said in the statement. “People caught in an emergency should be easily located when they dial 112 from their phones.”

Bulgaria is yet to make the 112 number available countrywide. Romania, on the other hand is yet to make available call to 112 from mobile phones. Other states in Romania's position are Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Slovakia.

According to EU telecoms legislation, all countries have to make calls to the single emergency number free of charge both from fixed and mobile phones.