Bulgaria enters a decisive stage in the drafting of the Partnership Agreement with the European Commission for the next programming period

The fifth meeting of the Working Group on drafting Bulgaria's Partnership Agreement with the European Commission took place on 25 January. This is a key document for the country. It presents the framework on the basis of which the European Commission will allocate funds under the European Structural and Investment Funds to Bulgaria in the period 2014-2020. The Partnership Agreement establishes the priorities for Bulgaria's development in the next programming period and the amount of the funds that would be made available to the country for that purpose. The document defines how the allocated financial resources will be spent and what mechanisms will be applied for the management and coordination of the programmes.

At the end of the previous year, when the first technical meeting marking the beginning of the negotiations with the European Commission for the period 2014-2020 took place, our European partners indicated that Bulgaria is one of the most advanced Member States in the reparation of the new programming period. The Commission commended the country for its efforts and for having in place, at the time of the negotiations, defined goals, priorities and clear justification for their implementation. In this regard and in view of maintaining the achieved positive trend, the following key elements of the Partnership Agreement were considered at the Working Group meeting:

First, there was an overview of the lessons learnt from the contribution of the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund (SCF) in the period 2007-2013 for tackling the structural challenges and improving the economic, social and territorial development of Bulgaria.

The proposals for new mechanisms for applying an integrated approach to addressing the needs of the individual regions and target groups, as well as the possibilities for introducing a territorial approach in the management of the European Structural and Investment Funds, including the instruments for territorial development and participation of the Bulgarian cities in the platform for sustainable urban development were reviewed.

The built administrative capacity of the institutions responsible for the management and the implementation of the structural instruments in Bulgaria was also discussed at the meeting. Part of the discussion was dedicated to the current and potential operational programmes beneficiaries as well as to the need to undertake additional measures for strengthening  the capacity and reducing the administrative burden.