Bulgaria’s President vetoed changes to the Law on Spatial Planning

Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev on February 5 vetoed provisions of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Spatial Planning, adopted by the 44th National Assembly on January 27, 2021.

In his reasons, the head of state stated that he supported the efforts to improve the existing legislation in the field of spatial planning, investment design and construction.

At the same time, however, the legal provisions introduced do not sufficiently guarantee the exercise and protection of the rights of citizens and legal entities. The introduced possibility for judicial appeal of the General Development Plans is unreasonably limited both in time and from the point of view of the circle of authorized entities.

The new regulation does not contain sufficient guarantees that the responsible and socially significant task of the municipalities to carry out the expropriation procedures will be performed strictly, on time and in the public interest. Instead, it creates preconditions for restricting the rights of various entities, the presidency added.