The European Commission expressed willingness to act as quickly as possible to resume suspended payments under operational programs, it emerged from a meeting in Brussels between Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the Management of EU Funds Iliyana Tsanova and European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn. Minister of Environment and Water Svetlana Zhekova also took part in the meeting. “Our first task is to find a solution to suspended programs”, Commissioner Hahn said during the meeting.
Deputy Prime Minister Iliyana Tsanova described the take home message of the meeting as “very encouraging for Bulgaria”. “We were not only assured that the Commission will act as quickly as possible, but we also drew up a plan of action. If we follow these steps, there is a real possibility that payments might be resumed in late October or early November”, the Deputy Prime Minister said. The conversation at the political level was preceded by discussions at the expert level earlier this week.
“The greatest success we achieved today is the willingness expressed by the European Commission to split apart checks on Axis 1 and Axis 3 of OP Regional Development. This way, as early as October the Commission will carry out an audit on Axis 3 of OP Environment. If the results are positive, payments would be immediately resumed”, Deputy Prime Minister Tsanova said. Bulgaria’s motivation to find the best solution is also confirmed by the BGN 750 million allocated by the government to finance expenditures under the programs, which Commissioner Johannes Hahn was informed about.
It was also confirmed that the financial adjustment of 9.5% under OP Environment would be imposed only on the 239 procurement contracts identified as problematic and totaling BGN 1,609 billion. The financial adjustment of BGN 153 million will be redirected to fund other projects. Bulgaria’s accord with this adjustment would reassure the Commission that possible violations, committed in the conduct of procedures for the award of these contracts would not lead to resuming irregular expenditures. However, OP Environment will have these funds at its disposal to finance other projects.
Commissioner Johannes Hahn emphasized the need for Bulgaria to demonstrate that management and control systems function well. Minister of Environment and Water Svetlana Zhekova reported that next week Bulgaria would send its official position-reply to the Commission’s letter with recommendations on management and control. She added that a certificate of costs under OP Environment was currently being prepared and that it would be presented to the certifying and audit authority not later than September 19. By checking the procedures for verification of expenditure, included in the certificate, agencies of the Commission would ensure that efficient and effective controls had been introduced, which detect violations and make the adjustment worthy, Minister Zhekova said. She also pointed out that beneficiaries were already being paid a total of BGN 89.