site.bta58 MPs Challenge Election of Heads of Supervisory Bodies in Constitutional Court

A group of 58 MPs from the parliamentary groups of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), Democracy, Rights and Freedoms, and MECh have submitted two petitions with the Constitutional Court to declare unconstitutional the election of Borislav Bozhinov as head of the Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP), of Silvia Kadreva as Vice President of the Bulgarian National Audit Office, and of Dimitar Glavchev as President of BNAO, CC-DB announced on Thursday.

The first petition states that Bozhinov's election on May 9, 2025, is in violation of directly applicable European Union legislation, specifically EU Regulation 679 of 2016, which is mandatory in all EU Member States. The regulation stipulates that national data protection supervisory authorities must appoint people who have the necessary qualifications, experience and skills, predominantly in the field of data protection, as well as experience in managing human and public financial resources, which the elected Chair of the CPDP lacks. Bozhinov's management experience is at the level of group leader in the Ministry of the Interior with up to two employees, and his professional experience in the field of personal data is a one-month course. The National Assembly has violated the law by adopting selection rules that lack these criteria.

According to the second petition, the election of Kadreva as Vice President of BNAO by the National Assembly on May 16 is unconstitutional, because it is contrary to the rule of law. Kadreva does not meet the requirements of professional experience and competence stipulated in the National Audit Office Act. Her lack of professional experience in public finance, auditing and oversight calls into question the independence and effectiveness of the oversight body. She has a post-secondary degree in Library and Information Science, with 3 years of training, however, this post requires a master’s degree, which she has not presented to Parliament. Kadreva's previous positions in BNAO had to do with administration, registry and control, and declaration, but she did not work as an auditor.

The 58 MPs also believe that the reinstatement of Dimitar Glavchev as President of BNAO should be declared illegal and unconstitutional. In late March 2024, Glavchev was elected as caretaker prime minister, assuming also the functions of foreign minister. after the end of the caretaker cabinet's term, on January 16, 2025, he returned to his former position as BNAO President. According to the National Audit Office Act, the BNAO must be headed by a person who has not held the position of minister in the previous three years.