Brussels has refused the second payment to Bulgaria under the NRSP due to the lack of reforms

Brussels is not releasing the money from the second tranche of the Recovery Plan a year after Bulgaria submitted its request a little over a year ago. The European Commission notes that the reforms promised by Sofia have not been fully implemented, BNT reported.

The European Commission has adopted a preliminary assessment of Bulgaria's request for the second payment under the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan, submitted on October 7, 2023. The Commission notes that under the second payment under the plan, out of the 62 milestones and objectives set, 53 have been met.

At present, eight milestones and one objective have not been satisfactorily implemented, which could lead to the suspension of the entire amount of the payment in accordance with the EC methodology. Most of them relate to key reforms that address challenges identified in the country-specific recommendations and were fundamental for the approval of the initial Bulgarian PAP.

According to the regulation, in case of failure to meet key milestones and targets, the EC may propose a partial or full suspension of payments. This procedure gives the relevant Member State an additional one-month period in which to present its comments and take action to correct the unsatisfactory implementation.

Thus, by 29.12.2024, Bulgaria should present its comments and arguments and the EC will adopt its final decision within a month after the Bulgarian side's response. From this moment, after the final acceptance of the assessment by the EC, Bulgaria has up to 6 months to fulfill the commitments made related to the second payment under the Plan.

At the end of this period, the EC will re-assess the implementation of the eight milestones and one target, and in case of a positive opinion, it will authorize the release of the suspended resource.

The EC recognizes that it is of utmost importance for the Bulgarian state to continue to make intensive efforts and complete the remaining commitments in order to make the best use of the resources allocated under the NRSP, and in turn, they express their readiness to provide support for the successful implementation of the Plan.