Bulgaria has submitted its Recovery and Resilience Plan to European Commission seeking € 6.6 billion funds
Bulgaria has submitted its proposal to the European Commission today, i.e., Friday, October 15, 2021, requesting funds in tune of € 6.6 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
Hit by a political crisis amid rising cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19), it is one of the last European Union (E.U.) member states to submit its RRF.
Inconclusive elections in April and July 2021 failed to produce a regular Government, which delayed the submission of RRF for months. Bulgaria is set to hold its third general elections on November 14, 2021, but the interim administration approved the plan and decided to submit it to unlock the much-needed aid.
The E.U. had announced a € 672.5 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) in 2020 to help European economies cope-up with the fight the economic crisis caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19). Of this, € 312.5 billion will be given as grants and € 360 billion in loans. All the 27 Member States are required to submit a recovery and resilience plan to get their share of funds.
Speaking on the occasion, the Interim Prime Minister of Bulgaria – Stefan Yanev said, “We hope that we are opening the road for detailed negotiations with the European Commission that will lead to the plan’s acceptance so that fresh funds can flow to Bulgarian business.”
The Bulgarian plan is structured around 4 pillars which include Innovative Bulgaria, Green Bulgaria, Connected Bulgaria and Fair Bulgaria. These 4 pillars cover measures such as decarbonisation of the economy, education and skills, research and innovation, smart industry, energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, digital connectivity, social inclusion and healthcare.
Taking it to twitter, the President of European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen tweeted,
We have received Bulgaria’s recovery plan.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 15, 2021
It has 4 pillars: Innovative, Green, Connected & Fair Bulgaria.
An important milestone in delivering the #NextGenerationEU financing needed for 🇧🇬 to emerge stronger from the crisis.
The projects proposed in the plan will cover the entire lifetime of RRF until 2026. The European Commission will now access Bulgaria’s plan based on the 11 criteria set out in the Regulation and translate their contents into legally binding acts. This assessment will include a review of whether the plans contribute to effectively addressing all or a significant subset of challenges identified in the relevant country-specific recommendations issued in the context of the European Semester.
The Commission will also assess whether the plan dedicates at least 37% of expenditure to investments and reforms that support climate objectives, and at least 20% to the digital transition.
Till date, the European Commission has received RRFs of 26 member states. Of this, it has approved plans of 22 nations. The assessment of Swedish, Polish and Hungarian RRF is still underway.
