The European Commission (EC) is already debating the EU cohesion policy after the end of the current programming period, which will last until 2027. "Unfortunately, our country is currently occupied with the search for stable government, and we are facing another elections. But our mayors who are on the Committee of the Regions can participate in these debates," said Silvia Georgieva, Executive Director of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, at the Albena resort during the closing conference of Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future Project, implemented by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) with the support of the European Commission.
Georgieva pointed out that it is very important that after 2027 cohesion policy continues to be an instrument for the development of Europe's regions. She said this policy should not become a centralised instrument, such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
"In addition to improving the environment and reducing disparities between regions, cohesion policy is already a crisis resolution tool - it helped with the crises during the pandemic, it helped resolve the crises after the war in Ukraine. These are important issues, of course, but we must not allow the European Commission's cohesion policy to become the solution to all the problems in the European Union. This is a policy for the regions and it should remain such," Georgieva said.
She added that despite the large number of projects implemented with EU funds in Bulgaria in recent years, regional imbalances in this country have deepened.
"The three northern regions in Bulgaria are lagging behind compared to the southern ones. The figures show it clearly. During the 2014-2020 programming period, only 30% of the EU funds were invested in the three northern regions of Bulgaria. This is a issue must now be resolved, in the current programming period, under which this country is obliged to invest at least 50% of the funds for the period in the northern regions," Georgieva said. She added that since 2007 the municipalities in Bulgaria have implemented more than 9,200 projects worth over BGN 20 billion.
"I would like to thank the team of the Bulgarian News Agency that the good news from the municipalities find a place in the news stream of the agency. We can rely on BTA for fair coverage, not only of our projects, but of all other important issues for the regions. Today, talking about our common European identity is urgent. I thank BTA for this project, for holding this conversation,", said Georgieva.
