Brussels, 01/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - Having approved the Bulgarian national strategic reference framework (NSRF) and priorities in June (see EUROPE 9452), the European Commission on Thursday 27 September approved the first operational programme (OP) - in a series of seven - from that country. Entitled “Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy”, the programme has a total budget of €1.16 billion, €988 million of which will be funded through the ERDF and the rest by Bulgaria. Those €988 million represent 15% of the EU investment allocated for investment in Bulgaria in the period 2007-2013. Of the seven OPs, two will be supported by the European Social Fund (ESF), and overall six are still in discussion and should be adopted by the end of the 2007, a Commission press release indicates.
The programme was signed at a ceremony which marked the official launch of the cohesion policy in Bulgaria for the period 2007-2013 by Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner and Bulgarian Prime Minister and Finance Minister Serguei Stanishev, and is centred around three priorities: (1) innovation and competitiveness, to help businesses develop. The Bulgarian authorities plan to increase investment in research and development from 0.64% to 1.15% of GDP by 2013. The programme should support an increase in foreign investment in Bulgaria and improve the economy's export potential. It should also facilitate SMEs' access, via the Jeremie programme; (2) growth and employment: more than 60% of the investment for the Convergence Objective (the total of which is €6.67 billion) has been earmarked for measures to promote employment and growth, in line with the Lisbon strategy; (3) territorial cooperation: €179 million will be allocated to this objective. For details, see http: //http://www.eufunds.bg (gb)