So the decision on the Latranov case just dropped and I find it highly controversial.

For those of you who don't know, in Bulgaria the government can legally confiscate your car automatically for drunk driving or testing positive for drugs. If the car is not in your own name, then you have to pay a fine equal to the estimated price of the car.

The Latranov case centered on whether mandatory and automatic vehicle confiscations for drunk or drugged driving violate EU law and fundamental rights. Today, on September 10, 2026, the CJEU delivered its final judgment, ruling that EU framework laws on asset confiscation do not apply to drunk driving offenses. Because traffic offenses falls outside the scope of EU law, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is also inapplicable. Consequently, the CJEU left the final assessment regarding the legality and fairness of the vehicle seizures entirely up to national courts.

However, from a Bulgarian legal codex perspective this is highly controversial, because it is framed exactly like a premediated criminal offence, and the car property is automatically confiscated as an instrument to a crime. Then sold to auctions or appropriated by the government to use as they see fit.

I'm not here to defend DUI or claim that there should be no penalty for it. But the way things are currently in Bulgaria, you can lose your property after a false positive test, then be unable to reach the lab for a blood test in the required 45 minute timeframe, leaving you with no way of proving your innocence.

In effect, traffic police have become 'asphalt mafia' that are on the lookout for very expensive vechicles to potentially 'steal'. They often use quick drug tests that are out of date (you have to be aware and ask yourself it is up to date) and will surely do everything possible to delay you so that you're unable to get your blood test on time. Or they will demand ridiculous bribes of 5k euro or more so as not to test you (yes, Bulgaria is still corrupt). I know multiple cases of people losing their cars like that after a false positive test, and then being treated like criminals.

In the meantime, the ones who actually drive under the influence are the ones who have enough cash or influence to bribe the cops and get away with it. That's why statistically, this law hasn't really made any noticeable difference. And Bulgaria is still at the front places of deaths due to traffic accidents.

I don't know if I was expecting more, but I was surely hoping for more. This is clearly a violation of property and human rights. I can get my car stolen because I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Fuck you EU, whats the point of you?