site.btaBulgaria to Finalize Proposal for REPowerEU Chapter of Recovery and Resilience Plan

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova said Bulgaria is about to finalize its proposal for the REPowerEU chapter of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. There is a detailed timeframe for this, agreed with the European Commission, the Finance Ministry said. 

Petkova attended the Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

Sofia wants to finalize the draft of the REPowerEU chapter and to submit it to the Commission so as to get approval by the year's end, the Ministry also said.

The Hungarian EU Council Presidency presented its priorities and work programme in the field of economic and financial affairs for the next six months. Most Member States, including Bulgaria, stated that support for Ukraine must remain a priority of the ECOFIN Council.

Ministers took stock of the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and approved updated recovery and resilience plans submitted by five countries, the Finance Ministry said.

The European Commission updated ministers on the economic and budgetary impact of Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The ECOFIN Council supported the continuation of work, alongside the EU and G7, towards providing a loan to Ukraine, which is to be repaid from extraordinary revenues stemming from Russian immobilized assets. Ministers agreed that the best approach would be to ensure G7 involvement along with the EU, and called for swift agreement on the structure and technical details of the proposal. Petkova supported the Commission's proposal to use the instrument for macro-financial assistance to provide an EU loan to Ukraine, with the EU budget as a guarantee. Bulgaria believes that the financial support should be used to cover military and budgetary needs, as well as for investments in strategic sectors of the country's economy that will contribute to its rapid recovery and development, the Finance Ministry said.

In the context of the European Semester, the Council approved country-specific recommendations on the economic, social, employment, structural and budgetary policies of each Member State, as well as conclusions on the 2024 in-depth reviews under the macroeconomic imbalance procedure. 

Ministers exchanged views on the European Commission and the European Central Bank convergence reports, which examine whether Member States outside the euro area satisfy the necessary conditions to adopt the single currency. Bulgaria welcomed the conclusion. Petkova assured the ECOFIN Council that the commitment to join the euro area as soon as possible remains a priority and that technical preparations continue at a good pace. When the last - price stability - criterion is met, Bulgaria will ask for additional convergence reports. The Deputy Prime Minister stressed the importance for the country to get a prompt assessment of its readiness by the EU institutions and a Council decision with a specific date for adoption of the euro. This will ensure predictability for businesses and the public and a sufficient time horizon to finalize the process, the Finance Ministry said.