For the time being, the European Commission has not approved the second payment under Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan

The European Commission has issued an ultimatum to Bulgaria regarding the funds from the second tranche of the Recovery Plan, a year after Bulgaria submitted its request. The Commission has noted that the reforms promised by Sofia have not been fully implemented.

The European Commission has provided a preliminary assessment of Bulgaria's request for the second payment under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, submitted on October 7, 2023.

The Commission reports that out of the 62 milestones and targets set for this payment, 53 have been achieved. However, eight milestones and one target have not been satisfactorily met, which could lead to the suspension of the entire payment in accordance with the EC’s methodology. Most of these outstanding commitments relate to key reforms addressing challenges identified in the country-specific recommendations for Bulgaria, which were fundamental to the initial approval of the Bulgarian Recovery and Resilience Plan.

According to regulations, if key milestones and targets are not met, the EC may propose a partial or full suspension of payments. This procedure gives the member state an additional month to provide its comments and take corrective action.

Bulgaria must submit its comments and arguments by December 29, 2024. The EC will then make its final decision within four weeks of Bulgaria's response. From that point, following the final adoption of the EC’s assessment, Bulgaria will have up to six months to fulfill the commitments related to the second payment under the Plan. At the end of this period, the EC will reassess the implementation of the eight milestones and one target. If the review is positive, the suspended funds will be released.

The EC has emphasized that it is crucial for Bulgaria to continue its intensive efforts to complete the remaining commitments and make the best use of the resources provided under the Recovery Plan. The Commission has also expressed its willingness to support Bulgaria in successfully implementing the Plan.