/ world today news/ Brussels trashed Bulgaria’s project for the new Program for the Development of Rural Areas in the period 2014-2020 and returned it for a total revision.
The European Commission sent 426 critical notes on 112 pages to the Ministry of Agriculture last week. The result – Bulgarian farmers’ access to 2.338 billion euros is blocked in the bud, the start of the program is postponed until after the New Year, and 2014 will be a zero year for Bulgarian farmers, writes the “Trud” newspaper.
From the critical report available to the publication, it is clear that the EC is asking why the agribusiness program contradicts the goals set in the Partnership Agreement between Bulgaria and the EU until 2020. This is the main document for the use of European funds during this program period, in which our country indicates the goals we will achieve with the money.
Brussels points out that there is a gap between the rural public infrastructure strategy outlined in the agreement and that in the programme. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture sent the new program without an eco-assessment and without an analysis of the pros and cons of the previous European program for villages.
A number of the proposed new measures, according to which projects will be implemented, are without an analysis of their necessity, it is also written in the notes. It is stated that the program “should additionally prioritize interventions related to employment in rural areas, and the Bulgarian authorities should take timely and sufficiently comprehensive measures to eliminate the deficiencies observed in the past related to public procurement”.
The program was sent to Brussels at the last possible deadline, on July 2 of this year, by former Minister of Agriculture Dimitar Grekov. “If you ask me as an expert, I would say that it is better to start writing a new program, but as the Minister of Agriculture, I cannot tell you that, because we cannot deprive business of another zero year from the European funds,” he commented Acting Agrarian Minister Vasil Grudev to “Trud”. The Ministry of Agriculture has set itself the goal of sending a revised version by November 27 of this year. On the project that was returned, Brussels delayed for 3 months, so the optimistic forecast is that the start of the program will be delayed at least until the middle of January next year.
Vasil Grudev admitted yesterday that our country will lose between 70 and 98 million euros at the end of this year. According to the fisheries program, 3.5 million BGN would be lost.
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