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The EC Spokesman for Regional Policy, Dennis Abbott, has said Friday that reasons for the threat are the delays in the public procurement procedures and the poor management of the program in Bulgaria. File photo
The European Commission has warned Bulgaria that there is a great risk that the country may lose the ISPA program funding.
The EC Spokesman for Regional Policy, Dennis Abbott, has said Friday that reasons for the threat are the delays in the public procurement procedures and the poor management of the program in Bulgaria.
In his words, the Commission has explained that in several letters and meetings with the Bulgarian authorities.
In order to avoid such scenario Bulgaria must boost the realization of the projects and to provide all the necessary invoices from the approved projects on time in Brussels.
According to Abbott, the presented amounts of money that Bulgaria may eventually have to return to the EC are based on higher estimations, regarding projects that may not be completed until the middle of 2011, when the ISPA audit will be over.
Bulgaria may be obliged to return between EUR 500 M and EUR 700 M, because of delays in the ISPA projects.
"Our data shows that there are EUR 455 M left for ISPA funding. I expect the Bulgarian Government to not ask for extension of the deadlines for ISPA. It can do so only if it feels that it will loose part of the program's funding, which has not been yet used", Abbott said.
The Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) was designed to address environmental and transport infrastructure priorities identified in the Accession Partnerships with the 10 applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
It only finances major environmental and transport infrastructure projects.
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