The Bulgarian society expects active legislation from the 49th National Assembly to guarantee both the funds earmarked for this country under the Recovery and Resilience Plan and Bulgaria's accession to Schengen this year. This is what President Rumen Radev said during a meeting with Iliana Ivanova, member of the European Court of Auditors. The head of State stressed that the necessary bills had already been drafted by the caretaker government, and it was expecting support from Parliament for their adoption.
Through its auditing, the European Court of Auditors assesses the effectiveness and legality of EU actions in order to contribute to their accountability and transparency. The findings of the European Court of Auditors' annual report were discussed, as well as the country's handling of EU funds.
It emerged from the meeting that in recent years, Bulgaria has established itself as a reliable and loyal partner of the European Court of Auditors and in the latest report of the institution, it is mentioned as an example of good cooperation between auditing and administrative authorities in cohesion policy. The two agreed that linking cohesion policy to the rule of law, however, requires concrete action from Bulgaria to catch up with the legislation not adopted by the previous parliament, which also delays the absorption of the funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
An increasing number of EU countries are taking action to renegotiate their Recovery and Resilience Plans to optimise or modify the projects set out in them in order to implement them within realistic timeframes and to achieve faster results, it became clear during the session. The head of State stressed that ensuring a sustainable future for the Bulgarian energy sector is a priority and the timeframes needed for the construction of new energy capacities should be carefully considered. Therefore, in case of a closure of thermal power plants, to which some of the recent Bulgarian governments have committed, a realistic ecological alternative for electricity generation should be secured in advance, as well as social stability during the transition towards building a green economy.
The President also highlighted the efforts of the caretaker government to raise awareness of small and medium-sized enterprises and facilitate their access to EU funds. Because of these actions, a significant increase in applications for access to EU funding under various European programmes is being reported. Rumen Radev also noted the actions taken to create an industrial zone near Dobroslavtsi, which has already received interest from a strategic investor in the automotive sector, and this could change the international image of Bulgaria as an investment destination and qualitatively improve the business environment in Bulgaria.