site.bta EU Regional Policy Commissioner Cretu Confers with Prime Minister, President, Deputy PM Donchev

EU Regional Policy Commissioner Cretu Confers with Prime Minister, President, Deputy PM Donchev

Sofia, December 11 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov conferred here on Friday with visiting EU Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Cretu.Cretu held talks also with President Rosen Plevneliev.

"Keeping and asserting the image of cohesion policy at the level of an individual Member State and above all at EU level is the major objective in these hard times for Europe," Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds and Economic Policy Tomislav Donchev said, emerging from Borissov's session with Cretu. "We know where our challenges are, where we are doing well and where further efforts are needed. Ways to build on achievements and seek new opportunities dominate our agenda today," Donchev said.

He described 2016 as the year in which all operational programmes must go into full gear. Tangible results must be achieved in a number of reforms in the water sector, education and healthcare. "These are not all the reforms, but they are the most challenging ones," the Deputy PM said.

Commissioner Cretu said that the European Regional Development Fund has already invested 3,900 million euro in competitiveness, transport, environment and regional development. "You can see how many kilometres of motorways, a metro in Sofia and regional centres have been built. We allocate 72 per cent of the resources for the period to this kind of investments," the EU official said. She noted that Bulgaria is managing such a large amount of EU funds for the first time and this reflects the quality of joint work between the European Commission and Bulgarian authorities in improving implementation, which makes it possible to channel funds to projects that will make a difference to Bulgarians' lives. Cretu recalled the resources earmarked for Bulgaria in the new programming period, specifying that they will assist small and medium-sized enterprises, competitiveness, the local economy, social inclusion and regional development.

The Commissioner congratulated the Bulgarian Government on a job well done. "I believe that the results are tangible, and we are proud of the acceleration of work," she added.

The European funds modernize Bulgaria and change its appearance, while the Bulgarians are already perceiving the concrete results of the implemented projects, President Rosen Plevneliev said during his meeting with Cretu, his Press Secretariat said.

The Head of State said that the country starts working on the National Development Programme Bulgaria 2030.

The interlocutors defined the results, which Bulgaria achieved in the first programming period (2007-2014) regarding the absorption of EU funds under Operational Programme Regional Development and Operational Programme Transport as very good. Plevneliev quoted as an example the Trakiya Highway, which improves the economic prospects of the whole region of Southern Bulgaria.

According to Cretu, many projects on improving connectivity between regions have been implemented in the recent years and this is a proof that the Cohesion Policy is working. She noted that the role of the Danube Strategy should be strengthened because it opens many opportunities to popularize the region.