The President opened the first session of the Regional Development and National Infrastructure Council. The Council outlined the priorities for regional development to be financed from the Cohesion Fund and European Regional Development Fund in the period 2014-2020.
Participants in the Council’s first meeting reached consensus on six national priorities to be included in the National Programme for the Development of Bulgaria to 2020. These are transport infrastructure, technical infrastructure in the water sector, eGovernment, energy efficiency and housing, creating conditions for balanced urban development and innovation and competitiveness of SMEs. The next step is for these priorities to be transformed into concrete measures and to develop specific indicators of progress on them year-by-year.
President Rosen Plevneliev announced that the preliminary stage of work on the Bulgaria 2020 National Development Programme would be completed by mid-July 2012. By then, specific sources of funding must be identified, priorities set for allocation of financial resources and a system of clear indicators for investigation and control of the progress of work must be established. The President said that 2012 is crucial for the development of the country's priorities up to 2020.
In the field of transport infrastructure, Bulgaria should be positioned as a regional transportation centre, the President said. Priority should not be given solely to motorways and speedways, but also to first, second and third-class roads and municipal roads that are of great importance to regional development, it was stated during the Council meeting.
There should definitely be efforts to reform the water sector, a key factor for sustainable regional development, President Plevneliev said. Access to drinking water remains a problem for many small municipalities in the country. The need for accelerated implementation of integrated water cycle projects in larger municipalities was highlighted.
Participants in the Council agreed that there should be a common strategy for the implementation of e-governance, rather than partial solutions at institutional level, including municipal level. Regarding this priority, there must be specific sources of funding for each subsequent year as well as clarity about who will bear responsibility for implementing the objectives. “E-government restores public confidence in institutions and is the highest form of state care for citizens, and therefore funding for it can no longer be postponed,” President Plevneliev told the meeting.
The National Programme for energy efficiency of residential buildings should be extended so that the measures apply to all buildings - businesses, municipal buildings, hospitals, kindergartens and schools, it was suggested during the meeting. President Plevneliev again defined energy efficiency as a top priority. “The National Programme for energy efficiency will lead to a technological leap by Bulgarian industry and this should be the focus,” the President emphasised. A total of 1.3 billion leva has been set aside for energy efficiency, which, according to government estimates, would have an impact of an economic benefit of 2.3 billion leva in 2020.
The strategic priorities of Bulgaria 2020 should make possible the balanced development of Bulgaria’s regions. According to the President, Bulgaria has all the prerequisites, such as by investing in targeted so-called secondary growth centres, to create regional clusters, employment prospects and quality jobs.
The representatives of Government, the National Assembly, local authorities, trade unions, business and political forces agreed that the strategic approach in planning national priorities should not be limited to the horizon of 2020. Political parties are committed to including the priorities outlined in their platforms.
President Plevneliev reiterated the need for a non-partisan and integrated approach in the search for consensus on implementation of the technological priorities, with clearly identified responsibilities and transparency in planning to ensure continuity by the institutions responsible. He said that it was important to have a limited number of priorities, but to focus on them and for the results to be visible.
“By the end of 2012, everyone will have put their signatures under these priorities, and if anyone makes changes to them, the Presidential institution will identify him publicly,” the President said. “Success lies in the correct concept, in a concrete plan of implementation, and the application of targeted efforts year-by-year by all institutions,” Rosen Plevneliev told the Council meeting, which was broadcast live on the internet.