The European Commission told Bulgaria to tighten up its administration and improve the quality of its labour force in order to achieve the goals set out in the Lisbon Strategy for economic and social sustainability.

Bulgaria should "urgently strengthen administrative capacity in particular focus on key government functions, including regulatory authorities, and the judiciary," the Commission said in its comments to Bulgaria's report on Lisbon Strategy reforms.

EU member states are required to submit annual reports assessing their reform efforts to achieve the goals set out by the Lisbon Agenda, which are assisted, monitored and evaluated by the EC.

The Commission also recommended Bulgaria to speed up efforts to cut red tape and shorten procedural delays in order to improve the business environment, which it believes would help in its fight against corruption.

The cabinet should also make more efforts to increase the quality of labour supply and the employment rate by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of its labour market policies and further reform the education system to raise skills to levels that better match labour market needs and reduce early school leaving, the European executive said.

Bulgaria is focusing on the right challenges, but "lacks concrete and substantial measures" in some areas, in particular strengthening administrative capacity.

Additionally, the EC recommended "taking further measures to ensure the long-term sustainability of public finances", which includes containing its growing current account deficit and inflationary pressures.

It should do so by using tight fiscal policies, improving the quality of public expenditure and promoting wage moderation in order to keep wage developments in line with productivity gains.

But the Socialist-led Bulgarian cabinet might have problems keeping the purse strings tight, with healthcare workers now poised to follow in the footsteps of teachers by going on strike to demand higher wages.

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