At a regular sitting of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds (CEAOEF), held on May 9 2012, the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Lilyana Pavlova presented the current status and the recent progress of the Operational Programme “Regional Development” 2007-2013 and the Cross Border Cooperation Programmes. During her hearing before the Committee, she also discussed the results of the implementation of the pre-accession ISPA programme.
83% (1.3 billion Euros) of the allocated budget have been contracted, while 23% (370 millions of Euros) have already been disbursed. 163 OP “Regional Development” projects have already been completed and 1.5 million people have used the new infrastructure.
The MP’s showed an expressed interest in the preparation of the future regional operational programme. Minister Pavlova pointed out that the latter will focus mainly on urban development, and clarified that in the period 2014-2020 OPRD will fund several main priorities: urban development, realized within the framework of the Integrated Plans for Sustainable Urban Development; sector politics of regional significance, such as national healthcare, social and educational infrastructure; tourism, culture, and energetic efficiency, and will seek to expand the use of financial engineering instruments.
During the ensued discussion on the topic, the MP’s congratulated Ms. Pavlova for the good results of the programme, especially in light of the its complexity compared to the rest of the operational programmes due to the various realms (ranging from infrastructure to soft measures) it covers.
CEAOEF’s Chairwoman Ms. Monika Panayotova expressed her satisfaction with the impact assessment of OPRD’s implementation, not only in terms of existing indicators, but also on the basis of the support the OP has lent to certain reforms in the country. Ms. Iskra Mihaylova, CEAOEF member, also voiced her approval of the received information on the indicators that underlie the programme. She indicated that “OPRD’s success demonstrates that the integrated approach is the best approach towards the management of the Operational Programme.”
Answering CEAOEF Deputy-Chairperson Mr. Chakarov’s question about the possibility of a loss of funds due to the n+3/n+2 principle, Ms. Pavlova assured the MP’s that the speed of development of the programme currently does not allow for such a risk to emerge. She pointed out that so far, the Ministry has certified 60 millions of Euros out of the 120 millions of Euros allocated to programme payments for 2012. The Ministry aims at increasing the speed of funds absorption, so that it could disburse the 200 millions of Euros allocated to 2013.
CEAOEF’s Deputy Chairperson Mr. Vladimir Toshev asked about the co-ordination between the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications on the issues of road infrastructure and the connection between the regions and the main thoroughfares through the municipal road networks. Minister Pavlova emphasized that the new scope of the OP “Regional Development” does not provide for funding projects on second- and third-class republican roads and municipal road networks, since the future operational programme “Transport” is expected to provide for such projects. Additionally, she pointed out that local roads will most probably be left out of the European funds.
CEAOEF’s Deputy Chairperson Meglena Plugtschieva asked whether the Ministry continues to hold the idea of separate regional operational programmes and whether funds from the future operational programme “Regional Development” will go toward the funding of the Danube Strategy. Minister Pavlova answered that the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works supports the idea of common regional politics and that the Ministry aspires to see the Danube Strategy become a macro-regional program, so that it has its own source of funding.
Minister Pavlova informed the MP’s that the significant delays in the expense verification in the partner-states might result in the loss of funding for the Cross Border Cooperation Programmes on the external borders (with FYROM, Turkey and Serbia). In this sense, while preparing the future programmes for Cross Border Cooperation, Bulgaria will insist on simplifying their structure and the procedures related to the management of these programs, as well as on focusing them on larger and more strategically important on a regional level projects.
Finally, Minister Pavlova announced that all ISPA projects managed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works have been successfully finalized and emphasized the completion of the Rousse Waste-Water Treatment Plan, which is one of the most modern facilities in the country.