site.btaEnvironment Minister Says Team's Ambition Is to Submit Final OP Environment Variant to EC by End-November
NW 13:38:31 19-11-2014
SN1338NW.108
108 ENVIRONMENT - MINISTER - INTERVIEW
Environment Minister Says Team's Ambition
Is to Submit Final OP Environment Variant to EC
by End-November
Sofia, November 19 (BTA) - "It is our ambition to submit the
final variant of the new Operational Programme Environment to
the European Commission by the end of November, so that we could
rely on its faster approval," Environment and Water Minister
Ivelina Vassileva said in an interview for BTA. She hopes the
operational programme will be launched in the beginning of 2015.
"Analyses to date show that the risk of loss, following the rule
of automatic release of funds under the Cohesion Fund and the
Regional Development Fund, ranges between 140 million and 205
million euro for this year,"Vassileva said. According to the
regulation, Bulgaria can submit evidence reasoning delays caused
by force majeure circumstances. The measures that have been
undertaken include active work with beneficiaries and
opportunities to reduce the loss to the minimum. Bulgaria has to
submit this evidence by December 15 and the documents should be
accepted for consideration by the EC until December 22. Then it
has to come out with a decision by the beginning of January
next year.
There are 12 infringement procedures against Bulgaria, including
the "frozen" one on Sofia's integrated waste management system.
The measures that can be undertaken include legislative
revisions, which will stop these infringement procedures.
A revision to the Water Act will establish a national unit
responsible for control of the technical condition of dams in
Bulgaria, Vassileva said. There are more than 2,000 dams in
Bulgaria which have to be monitored, repaired and maintained.
It will take at least two years, additional financial resources
and declaring the entire territory exclusive state property to
establish the Bulgarian Black Sea National Part, Vassileva said.
Taking a question whether declaring all protected areas under
the Habitat Directive by the end of the year is realistic, she
said it is not as there are 235 such areas and none of these
have been declared so far. Starting this process is a priority
which the Environment Minister has the ambition to be completed
by the end of 2015.
OP Environment for the new programming period also features a 60
million euro axis for preserving the purity of ambient air,
Vassileva said./LI/BR
/СН/
SN1338NW.108
108 ENVIRONMENT - MINISTER - INTERVIEW
Environment Minister Says Team's Ambition
Is to Submit Final OP Environment Variant to EC
by End-November
Sofia, November 19 (BTA) - "It is our ambition to submit the
final variant of the new Operational Programme Environment to
the European Commission by the end of November, so that we could
rely on its faster approval," Environment and Water Minister
Ivelina Vassileva said in an interview for BTA. She hopes the
operational programme will be launched in the beginning of 2015.
"Analyses to date show that the risk of loss, following the rule
of automatic release of funds under the Cohesion Fund and the
Regional Development Fund, ranges between 140 million and 205
million euro for this year,"Vassileva said. According to the
regulation, Bulgaria can submit evidence reasoning delays caused
by force majeure circumstances. The measures that have been
undertaken include active work with beneficiaries and
opportunities to reduce the loss to the minimum. Bulgaria has to
submit this evidence by December 15 and the documents should be
accepted for consideration by the EC until December 22. Then it
has to come out with a decision by the beginning of January
next year.
There are 12 infringement procedures against Bulgaria, including
the "frozen" one on Sofia's integrated waste management system.
The measures that can be undertaken include legislative
revisions, which will stop these infringement procedures.
A revision to the Water Act will establish a national unit
responsible for control of the technical condition of dams in
Bulgaria, Vassileva said. There are more than 2,000 dams in
Bulgaria which have to be monitored, repaired and maintained.
It will take at least two years, additional financial resources
and declaring the entire territory exclusive state property to
establish the Bulgarian Black Sea National Part, Vassileva said.
Taking a question whether declaring all protected areas under
the Habitat Directive by the end of the year is realistic, she
said it is not as there are 235 such areas and none of these
have been declared so far. Starting this process is a priority
which the Environment Minister has the ambition to be completed
by the end of 2015.
OP Environment for the new programming period also features a 60
million euro axis for preserving the purity of ambient air,
Vassileva said./LI/BR
/СН/
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