EU withholds 9.45% of Bulgaria's third RRP payment due to lack of legal reforms

The European Commission has temporarily withheld €152,896,496 from Bulgaria’s third payment under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported, citing diplomatic sources. The third payment requested by Bulgaria amounts to €1,618,592,629.

According to the European Commission, the country has not satisfactorily fulfilled the reforms set out in the national plan. The Anti-Corruption Commission has not been reformed, and the rules on criminal procedure, accountability, and the criminal liability of the Prosecutor General have not entered into force.

On December 1, the Commission informed Bulgaria of its assessment. The authorities were given one month to submit their comments to Brussels. On December 3, the Bulgarian side notified the European Commission that it had no such comments.

EC withholds part of third payment under Bulgaria’s RRP

The disbursement of the currently withheld €152 million will take place once Bulgaria satisfactorily completes the two key milestones. Sofia has a six-month deadline to do so.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov
English: R. Petkova