On January 11, 2012, the Minister in charge of EU funds management Mr. Tomislav Donchev presented before CEAOEF the progress achieved in the area of EU funds absorption during 2011. The Minister noted that in 2011 all Operational Programmes (OPs) have achieved the targets set under the rule N +2 / N + 3 and as a result there is no risk of losing funds. Secondly, he noted that the OPs mistake percentage is very low (less than 1 per cent) – lower than the average for Europe (over 60 Programmes within the EU are passing through suspension of payments procedure as a result of the reported high error rates).
Minister Donchev expressed satisfaction with the overall implementation of OPs and concluded that by 31st December 2011, the OPs’ payments have reached 19 per cent or over 1,5 billion Euros. Moreover, by 31st December, the total amount of contracted funds have reached 5,3 billion Euros, which represents 65,5 per cent of OPs’ budget .
Significant increase in most of the OPs’ implementation is registered in comparison to 2010. The OP “Transport” is the undisputed leader in contracting and payments made for 2011. It registered nearly 4-times increase in payments from 2010 and 3-times more contracted funds. Minister Donchev underlined that in 2012, the development of transport infrastructure remains a main priority, with 1,5 billion Leva under the OP “Transport”.
Also, Minister Donchev presented an analysis of the Indicative Work Programme for 2011. He emphasized the success rate of the programmes’ implementation which during the year reached over 90% or 2,5 billion Euros of the planned nearly 3 billion Euros.
Minister Donchev noted with satisfaction the progress in respect to the commitments undertaken on the initiative formed in November 2010 to establish a system of cooperation with International Financial Institutions. Bulgaria reached an agreement with its European partners that the EU funds would be used to pay for the IFI’s examination report. The signing of the two Memorandums of Understanding between Bulgaria and the World Bank and the European Investment Bank are expected to take place at the end of January 2012. He noted that the scope of cooperation with the Bulgarian authorities is outlined and a list of projects for the next programming period is being prepared. In the process of implementation, the government will make use of the IFI’s examination. Minister Donchev also stressed that technical assistance from the IFIs would have a complementary function and would be used only in areas (mainly for large infrastructure projects), in which the Bulgarian administration has not yet developed the necessary expertise.
Minister Donchev also presented the overall progress in the coordination system of the EU funds in Bulgaria, as well as the changes made to the regulations and their impact on the optimization of the procedures for EU funds management. In this regard, Minister Donchev stressed the role of the changes in the Public Procurement Act which aim for better and clearer regulation of the award of contracts for implementation of projects financed under OPs.
As part of his speech, Minister Donchev presented the progress of the OP "Technical Assistance" 2007-2013, the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area and Norwegian Cooperation Programme. Detailed information about these mechanisms can be found in the hearing report.
The Committee members thanked for the thorough information. Following the presentation, the Minister was asked to respond to the Committee’s questions mainly related to the forecast for implementation of the OPs in 2012, the overall impact assessment of the Programmess and the achievement of pre-set objectives, the capacity of local authorities, future OPs’ preparation in the context of the new Programming Period, etc.
After the hearing, the President of Bulgaria’s National Audit Office Mr. Valeri Dimitrov and the Executive Director of Executive Agency "Audit of EU Funds" Mrs. Dobrinka Mihailova presented objective assessment of the effectiveness of the EU funds management and control systems in Bulgaria. The findings of the Minister’s presentation that the rate of errors for all OPs is below the significance threshold and is lower than the average for Europe have been confirmed by the Audit Authorities. They welcomed the increased preliminary control by the Managing Authorities (including public procurement), which significantly reduces the risk of allowing irregularities in the OP. Mrs. Mihailova described the year 2011 as “difficult” for the Managing Authorities, but also a “year of confidence” and enhanced interaction with the Audit Authorities to overcome detected weaknesses, as well as to improve the management and oversight. As a result, Mrs. Mihailova reported with satisfaction that the Managing Authorities have taken into consideration all the recommendations of the audit reports. The Audit Authorities have sent positive annual control reports on all OPs to the European Commission.