The European Commission has endorsed the modified version of Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan which will be supported by EUR 5.7 billion in grants under the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the Commission said on 21 November.
The Bulgarian Finance Ministry said the revisions reflect, on the one hand, the EU's reduced grant funding and, on the other, a reduced risk of loss of funds due to physical impossibility of completion within the eligibility period until August 2026. The regular government started work on this process in July 2023. It has managed to make up for the delay and will complete the process as scheduled.
In the modified plan, Bulgaria proposed 22 measures to be removed, reduced or amended. The revised plan continues to foster the green (57.5% of the plan's allocation) and digital transition, and to strengthen Bulgaria's economic and social resilience.
Bulgaria's request is based on the need to factor in the downward revision of its maximum RRF grant allocation, from EUR 6.3 billion to EUR 5.7 billion. The revision is part of the June 2022 update to the RRF grants allocation key and reflects Bulgaria's comparatively better economic outcome in 2020 and 2021 than initially foreseen.
In December 2022, Bulgaria received the first EUR 1.37 billion disbursement under the RRF.
The Council will now have, as a rule, four weeks to endorse the Commission's assessment.