Bulgaria's ruling coalition has merged parts of the executive and the legislature into a new body – the Council for development.

This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister for Coalition Policy and Public Administration Rumyana Bachvarova in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) on Sunday.

Bachvarova explained that this will be the body which will discuss all contentious issues in the ruling coalition as well as decide on issues related to the strategic development of the country.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the body, which was constituted last week, will report to the Ministerial Council.

The coalition government is constituted of Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) and the Reformist Bloc (RB), with the support of the Patriotic Front (PF) and the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV).

A similar coalition council existed during the triple coalition of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, which brought together the leaders of the parties, but it acted without having strictly defined composition and rules.

The Council of development was established as a structure in the government administration during the first cabinet of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in 2009, but no members of parliament took part in its functioning.

In the government of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski the council was entrusted with the national programme for development Bulgaria 2020.

The current council will be headed by Bachvarova and will include the deputy prime ministers, ministers and representatives of the leadership of the parliamentary groups.