“Does Bulgaria need a law regulating Euro funds?”, Chairperson of Bulgaria’s National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva asked participants in the discussion of an interim report on EU funds absorption. “In times of economic and financial crisis, it is essential that Bulgaria uses in the European funds”, Mrs Tsacheva pointed out.
EU funds are currently financing 21 programmes in Bulgaria. They aim to bring closer the Bulgarian and European legislation, develop crossborder cooperation and rural areas, boost the country’s economic contacts in almost all sectors, as well as solve problems related to Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Area. Unfortunately, the lack of clear-cut rules and mechanisms for the absorption of EU funds has delayed this process. However, in the last year or so, Bulgaria has marked a positive change in this direction. The major operational programmes under the “Convergence” goal have an overall budget of 8 billion euro, and have paid off some 562 million euro by the end of June. The highest amount of EU money has been utilized by the Operational Programme “Development of the Competitiveness of Bulgarian Economy”. What is more, EU funds absorption under this programme has risen 317 times up on last year. The programmes for regional development and transport have also utilized sufficient amount of funds. The funds absorbed under the operational programmes are seven times more than last year, the Standing Parliamentary Committee on EU Affairs reported.
“Early 2010 was a strong year for the absorption of European funds against the backdrop of hardship and challenges”, Bulgaria’s Minister of EU funds Tomislav Donchev said for Radio Bulgaria. There are many reasons why we should be optimists. It is good news, for example, that the EU payments have steadily increased, instead of just marking temporary peaks. Over the last months we have been receiving funding to the tune of some 5 million Euro a week. Bulgaria received about 17 million Euro in the last week of August alone”, Tomislav Donchev went on to say.
Here is what Spanish ambassador to Bulgaria Jorge Fuentes said about Spain’s experience in the absorption of EU funds (audio).
“We have made significant progress over the last year, which should encourage us to speed up procedures”, Monica Panayotova, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on EU Affairs, commented.
“We have marked a growth in EU funding and agreements, but this should serve as an additional motivation to enhance the process even further”, Monica Panayotova went on to say. “ Bulgaria has established a better coordination system, which is already giving positive results. We have also improved our communication and cooperation with Brussels. A consistent effective dialogue between Bulgaria and the EU allows for better solution of current problems. We aim to create clear-cut rules, too. Currently, we are working on a bill for European funds that will unite the current 20 decrees of the Council of Ministers, thus enhancing the control and optimization of the procedures and defence of the interests of beneficiaries”, Monica Panayotova said in conclusion.
English version: Vyara Popova
