site.btaCabinet on EC's Approval of Modified National Recovery Plan: Plan’s Renegotiation Was One of Government's Most Important Goals

The renegotiation of the National  Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) was one of the Government's most important goals, as its implementation was blocked due to a number of factors, including the changed environment for the implementation of the planned measures. The changes adopted are expected to facilitate the NRRP's implementation and provide the conditions for its successful completion, reads a press release of the Government Information Service following the European Commission's approval of the changes to the NRRP proposed by Bulgaria, as well as all projects and reforms included in the REPowerEU chapter.

The Council of the European Union has four weeks to review and approve the European Commission's assessment, the press release specifies.

The amendments provide for a significant simplification of the requirements for the implementation of the stages and targets included in the reforms and investments, the scrapping of intermediate targets and the merging of stages. The number of stages and targets has been reduced from 321 to 259, and the number of payments under the NRRP from nine to five.

Investments or parts of investments that cannot be implemented within the eligibility period are dropped from the NRRP, and new investments in energy efficiency and transport connectivity are proposed in their place, and the scope of some existing ones is increased.  

The Government Information Service notes that the approval of the REPowerEU chapter allows Bulgaria to benefit from the additional resource provided by the EC, amounting to EUR 479 million. These funds will support measures to tackle energy poverty, support the liberalisation of the electricity market and promote the deployment, storage and use of renewable energy.

The plan maintains its strong focus on the green transition, with 49% of the funds earmarked for climate measures as well as on the digital transition, with 20.6% of the total spending earmarked for measures to accelerate digitalisation.

On April 16, Bulgaria submitted a request to the European Commission to modify the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in accordance with Article 21 of the Regulation on the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and to add to it a chapter on REPowerEU, the European plan to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and to accelerate the green transition.