Europe to allocate more money for Bulgaria in 2012

"In the next budget of the European Parliament, more money will be allocated for Bulgaria as one of the poorest EU member-states," Danuta Hübner, Chairperson of the Committee for Regional Policy in the European Parliament said yesterday, cited by BNR (Bulgarian National Radio). "Compared to most EU countries, Bulgaria has fewer problems with its fiscal stability and therefore must report economic growth," she stated. "It should be noted that your country's deficit and debt are very low and the unemployment rate is around the EU average. The main problem is that people in Bulgaria are still poor. People's savings decrease and this results in weakness of the banking sector. For this reason, the only source of economic growth for the country are the EU funds. "Bulgaria must benefit from the experience of older member-states in the absorption of EU funds," further recommended Hübner.

"Weak local governments are the main reason for the still slow absorption of EU money in Bulgaria," underscored Hübner. According to her, the quality of the local administration, which is expected to prepare the major projects in various regions, is of utmost importance to the country.

"Municipalities should be given resources in order to be able to work in decentralised conditions," said Ekatherina Zaharieva, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works. In her words, municipalities are gradually improving the absorption of EU funds.

According to Danuta Hübner, the system for access to EU funds in Bulgaria is more cautious than necessary. "Bulgaria should identify the needs of the various regions and to turn them into good-quality projects," recommended Hübner.

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