Brussels, 19/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - Last week, the European Commission pre-suspended €192 million in structural fund payments to Bulgaria. Interruption in payments was already applied last November because of irregularities noted in public procurement calls for tender process. The Bulgarian authorities now have two months to provide explanations to the European Commission and to rectify the situation. European Commissioner for Regional Development Johannes Hahn, however, was eager to play down this development. On Monday 17 February, he informed the press that almost 40% of the errors in the use of structural funds relate to the procedures for invitations to tender and that this was the case throughout Europe. He said that he was confident that the Bulgarian auditing body would provide explanations within the given deadlines because it had already confirmed weaknesses in the system. Hahn asserted that “this pre-suspension is a good opportunity to make the necessary changes”. (MD/transl.fl)