site.btaEuropean Commission Restarts Payments under Regional Development Operational Programme

European Commission Restarts Payments under Regional Development Operational Programme

Brussels, February 23 (BTA corr, Nikolay Jelizakov) - The
European Commission (EC) has notified Bulgaria that EU payments
under the Regional Development Operational Programme (OP) for
the programming period 2007-2013 can now restart, the EC said in
a press release Monday. The payments had been interrupted to
ensure the effectiveness of control systems. The official letter
has been sent to the Bulgarian authorities.

The Commission will immediately proceed with a first payment of
more than 52 million euro from the European Regional Development
Fund. Payments claims received in February for more than 92
million euro should be paid out in March.

Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva, responsible for Budget and
Human Resources, said: "The restart of payments is a sign for a
work well-done by the Bulgarian authorities. They should now
make up for the lost time and make good use of as much of the
remaining funds from this programme as possible."

Commissioner Corina Cretu, in charge of Regional Policy, said:
"This is excellent news and I welcome the efforts made by the
Bulgarian authorities to strengthen the management and control
system of the programme. The positive steps that Bulgaria took
in this direction allow the Commission to restart payments, for
the direct benefit of the Bulgarian people and of the national
economy."

Background

Payments to the Bulgarian Regional Development Operational
Programme were interrupted on 3 June 2014 following a Commission
audit in April 2014 which identified weaknesses in the
verification of claims by the national management and control
system of EU Funds.

This interruption concerned two priority axes: Priority Axis 1
- Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development and Priority Axis
3 - Sustainable Tourism Development. The Commission was obliged
to ensure that no payments were made on the basis of claims
that contained irregularities not corrected by the Member State.

The Commission concluded that all corrective measures have now
been implemented and that the conditions for lifting the
interruption have been fulfilled.