EC Requires Financial Corrections from Bulgaria Under OP Environment

The European Commission cannot set a time frame for the recovery of payments under the OP Environment and requires further financial corrections from Bulgaria.

The corrections to date come up to BGN 97M, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reports. The National Association of Municipalities has sent a letter to the EC President Jose Manuel Barroso two days ago, asking for the unfreezing of payments as soon as possible, however the Commission responded that it cannot set a time frame.

Shirin Wheeler, spokesperson of the European Commission responsible for regional policy said that the ball was in Bulgaria's court now. The Commission requires additional financial corrections and still needs the Bulgarian authorities and the EC auditors to examine the effectiveness of the new management and control systems.

“This is something that has yet to be proven and then we will be able to recover payments under the program,” Wheeler said as quoted by BNR.

The EC spokesperson added that Bulgarian authorities will soon receive the audit report on the Regional Development OP describing in the detail the committed violations.

Meanwhile, Wheeler pointed out that the procedure for suspension of payments is standard and is applied to all EU countries.

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