site.btaDeputy Prime Minister Donchev Tells Brussels Conference that Cohesion Policy Changes Everything for the Better

Brussels, May 24 (BTA) - Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev told a conference in Brussels Thursday that the EU's cohesion policy changes everything for the better. "It is not only an investment process but also a school for the administration because the management of EU money creates a new mentality, a new understanding, culture and habits in the administrations of all member states," Donchev said, as quoted by the government information service.

The conference was entitled "Good Governance for Cohesion Policy." Donchev further said that the policy for the national administrations in the EU should become a common European policy and there should be a common standard for the administrations in all member states.

The European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, announced the launch of a European Commission initiative to speed up the building of administrative capacity for the management of EU funds during the next programming period. The first stage of the initiative has a budget of 900,000 euro. Five managing authorities for operational programmes in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Poland and Spain will receive support from the Commission to strengthen their administrative capacity using expertise from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Bulgarian beneficiary is the managing authority for Operational Programme "Regions in Growth 2014-2020."

According to Vella, one euro invested today will generate three euro in additional GDP ten years from now.

In 2018, the EU cohesion policy marks its 30th anniversary. During the current programming period (2014-2020), the cohesion policy will see 351.8 billion euro in investments in European regions, including 7.4 billion euro in Bulgaria.