site.btaBulgaria Applies to Pilot EU's Latest Mechanism to Manage Demographic Change

Interviewed by the Bulgarian National Television, Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivanka Shalapatova said Bulgaria has applied to the European Commission for technical support so as to become the first country to pilot the latest policy tools for managing demographic change in the EU. The Social Policy Minister hopes the project will be approved in January 2024.

On Friday, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov held a meeting on demographic policy. Shalapatova said a proposal was made to increase the efficiency of the social assistance system so that all social assistance is targeted.

"This is one of my team's top priorities," she said.

A new housing policy was another highlight of the meeting. Studies cite the lack of access to housing as a factor for a family to abandon its child and break up. The ministries of regional development and of social policy will discuss housing policy in early January.