Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The European Commission has approved Bulgaria’s recovery and resilience plan on Thursday.
The EC pointed out that the move opens doors to disbursement of 6.3 billion euro under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to support reforms and investments in Bulgaria.
The Commission stressed in a statement on Thursday that the RRF will provide up to 800 billion euro for reforms and investments across the bloc.
“The Bulgarian plan forms part of an unprecedented coordinated EU response to the COVID-19 crisis, to address common European challenges by embracing the green and digital transitions, to strengthen economic and social resilience and the cohesion of the single market,” the EC noted.
The body pointed out that it assessed Bulgaria’s plan based on its alignment with the green push and the digital transition as well as potential to create jobs and strengthen social and economic resilience.
It noted that Bulgaria’s plan allocates 59% of funds for environmental objectives, including “significant investments to accelerate the decarbonisation of the energy sector, tripling power generation from renewables by 2026, building up large electricity storage capacities, cutting greenhouse gas emissions of the power sector by 40% by 2025, and setting out a framework for the coal phase-out.”
The Commission added that the plan includes support for projects aimed at improving energy efficiency of buildings, sustainable transport and environmental measures.
Roughly 26% of Bulgaria’s plan is focused on supporting the digital transition, through projects aimed at improving digital literacy and connectivity, and digitalisation of public administration, among other.
The plan also includes anti-corruption measures, the EC observed, “including reforms to ensure the accountability and criminal liability of the General Prosecutor, strengthened anti-corruption institutions and increased transparency and competition in public procurement, as well as a reform to improve the governance of state-owned enterprises.”
According to the Commission, Bulgaria’s recovery and resilience plan is “a balanced response to the economic and social situation in Bulgaria, thereby contributing appropriately to all six pillars referred to in the RRF Regulation.”
The EC predicted that none of the measures in the plan will have significant negative effects on the environment and concluded that the plan is in line with EU rules.
