"This is not the happiest day of my life", was the European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn's comment regarding the Tuesday decision of the European Commission (EC) to irrevocably take away from Bulgaria EUR 520 M of EU PHARE Program funds.

The EC also refused to restore the accreditation of two of Bulgaria's PHARE executive agencies over fraud concerns.

Bulgaria lost EUR 220 M of pre-accession aid which have not even been contracted for any projects at all. The remaining PHARE Program sum of EUR 300 M, for which contracts have already been signed, is lost as well since this funding was frozen by the Commission in the summer, and its Tuesday's decision means failure to "unfreeze" it.

"Bulgaria is an example of economic success, the country is a dedicated and constructive member of the European Union (EU). But there is also another dimension - the protection of the EU taxpayers' interests and the correct management of the European funds," Rehn stated.

According to Rehn, experts from his office and from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) had established numerous violations in the absorption of European funds in Bulgaria at a large scale, new and older ones, as well as risks of political interference in the funds' absorption and a large number of ongoing OLAF investigations.

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