Ms. Panayotova – Chairwoman of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds presented the role of the National Parliament in the management and monitoring of the European Funds during an International Conference - “EU Funds Absorption: national priorities, the Spanish experience” which took place in the National Palace of Culture under the patronage and with the kind participation of H.E. Horge Fuentes – Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to the Republic of Bulgaria and Mr. Tomislav Donchev – Minister in charge of EU Funds Management. The Deputy-Chairwoman of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds – Ms. Meglena Plugtchieva introduced the participants in the conference to “The Vienna Initiative – the experience of the other EU Member States”.
Ms. Panayotova stressed the importance and the role of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds in the EU Funds absorption process: to exercise an effective political control on the overall EU Funds management process in Bulgaria and to guarantee sound and qualitative legislation in this specific area. Taking into account the importance of the European financing for the national economy and the overall social and economic development of the country, the management of the EU funds for the first time has become a topic which is discussed and monitored on a parliamentary committee level. So far in the parliamentary practice (during the previous parliamentary term), those issues have been dealt with on a sub-committee level. The Committee monitors 21 programs and initiatives, financed by the EU. Targeting a broad consensus on the various aspects of the European agenda the Committee is comprised of 18 Members of Parliament which represent all parliamentary groups.
The Committee conducts parliamentary control on the EU Funds absorption by the means of regular hearings of representatives of the executive power, responsible for the proper implementation of the programs, funded by the EU; elaboration of annual and mid-term reports on the absorption of the EU Funds in the Republic of Bulgaria; addressing recommendations to the executive power on the need to opt for an integrated approach in the management of the programs, funded by the EU, as well as to seek a synergetic effect of the program implementation and a clear prioritization of the objectives when building the national vision for “Bulgaria 2020” in the context of the “Europe 2020” Strategy. An integral part of the constructive dialogue with the government is the early-warning mechanism which was put in action by the Committee. The early-warning mechanism is a valuable tool in targeting potential shortcomings and emerging problematic areas in the management of the European financial assistance.

Ms. Panayotova paid attention to the fact that the Committee is in support of the governments strive for a better regulation of the EU Funds management process. In this regard, the Committee has conducted a comparative analysis of the EU Member States practice in the regulation of the European Funds. The results of the survey show different approach applied by the Member States – from codification of the area concerned, through generalization in one common government act to an absence of a special legislative basis and its substitution with a number of procedural manuals and guidance, elaborated by the relevant Operational Programs Managing Authorities.

In the context of the better regulation and with a view of the next programming period, Ms. Panayotova emphasized on the importance of creating a proportional and adequate to the Bulgarian conditions legislative model without additional bureaucracy and in favour of the beneficiaries. In order to achieve this goal it is recommendable to use an approach that leads to a unification of the legislative basis on the EU Funds management with a clear program management structure, transparent and simple rules and procedures, as well as a balanced distribution of the rights and obligations between the public administration and the beneficiaries, leading to a minimum bureaucracy.

In conclusion, Ms. Panayotova underlined that the accomplishment of the Committee’s objectives with regards to the EU Funds management in Bulgaria shall be realized in close cooperation and a constant dialogue with all stakeholders – government, NGO sector, business organizations and the academic society.

After Ms. Panayotova’s intervention, Ms. Plugtchieva presented the experience of Hungary, Greece and Italy in the use of financial institutions (banks) as Intermediate Bodies in the process of the EU Funds management. Sharing their experience, Ms. Plugtchieva added that the application of such a model in which the banks become responsible for the preparation and monitoring of the EU funded projects, will leave enough space for the Managing Authorities of the Operational Programs to focus their efforts on the policy-making and the overall control of the EU Funds absorption in Bulgaria.

In the second part of the conference experts on EU Funds from leading Spanish consultancy companies shared their experience and good practices in the management of EU funded projects in Spain.