Brussels, 17/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission decided to delegate the management of SAPARD aid (special accession programme for agriculture and rural development) to the Bulgarian authorities. Bulgaria is thus the first candidate country to be able to move to the operational phase of this initiative. This decision allows the Bulgarian authorities to carry out the implementation of the SAPARD programme with a budget of EUR 53 million per year. A first advance, of 49% at the most of the annual amount, can now be paid.
This decision covers three main measures of the SAPARD programme in favour of Bulgaria: investment in agricultural farms, improvement of the processing and marketing of agricultural products and fishing, as well as the development and diversification of economic activities and replacement revenues. "For the first time, the Commission has allowed a decentralisation of the management of external aid to a recipient third country. By decentralising management, SAPARD gives our future members an opportunity to gain valuable experience in applying the mechanisms for the management of in particular rural development programmes, but also for any programme involving EU-funds", commented Commissioner Franz Fischler. The Commission is on the verge of authorising the decentralisation of SAPARD aids in Estonia.