site.btaScientific-Research and Innovation Promotion Bill Passed on First Reading

Bulgaria's Parliament on Thursday voted, 133-26 with 16 abstentions, to adopt on first reading a Government-proposed Scientific-Research and Innovation Promotion Bill.

Under the draft legislation, scientific research and innovations will be promoted by implementing a multiannual Framework Programme for Scientific Research and Innovation that will define the scope, areas and activities for their financing in line with national strategic documents.

The law also targets addressing the negative trends of the drain of brains, knowledge and resources. This will be achieved by implementing a dynamic, result-oriented and effective research and innovation ecosystem. 

The Debate

Andrey Tchorbanov MP of There Is Such a People: Having such a law is a must, and lot of the things in it are sensible. The problem is that there is no mention of financing binding the minister of finance with the State's intentions to develop science and innovation. When the State budget is drafted, the finance minister will simply refuse financing of these policies.

Ivaylo Papov MP of Vazrazhdane: This is yet another attempt by the Council of Ministers to address problems that they are not up to. I don't like either the form or the content of the proposed bill. No specific provisions are made for clear financing commitments, and the ratio between exact sciences and humanities is not specified. Vazrazhdane will not support the bill.

Nikolay Algafari MP of GERB-UDF: My parliamentary group will second the law on first reading but will move modifications. "Innovation" and "innovation activity" are not adequately defined in the bill. I'm worried that I don't see the full set of measures by which the State could promote the development of the innovation process. 

Krasimir Valchev MP of GERB-UDF: The bill is taking a step in the right direction, it lays the foundation for an integrated policy. Still, I'm skeptical that this policy will be fully implemented because the conditions for this are not so much at the level of the law as in the secondary legislation framework. In Bulgaria, the State budget allocates far less resources for the promotion of scientific research and innovation than in the industrialized countries. The National Science Fund and the National Innovation Fund function separately. Whether a common fund is the better institutional model is debatable, but such a model cannot possibly be proposed at this point because there are two ministries: the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Innovation and Growth.

Daniel Lorer MP of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria: The National Science Fund is under the Ministry of Education and Science because it targets financing developments of researcher teams. The National Innovation Fund is under the Ministry of Innovation and Growth because it is tasked with financing companies that invest in research and development. The separate existence of the two funds and of the two ministries makes sense.

Rumen Gechev MP of BSP for Bulgaria: The first problem is that the bill says that the strategy for development of scientific research in Bulgaria is adopted by the Council of Ministers. Isn't it natural that this strategy should be debated in Parliament on a motion by the Council of Ministers and should be adopted by Parliament, once it is a long-term strategy. Contrary to what the bill says, this strategy cannot be bound only to the scientific research programmes of the European Commission and European Union. Being in sync with these programmes is alright, but Bulgaria has a different economic structure and a lower competitiveness level. There are no provisions whatsoever about financing.