Brussels: Today, the European Commission has partially approved Bulgaria’s third payment request for £1.6 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which is a key component of the NextGenerationEU program designed to aid recovery, foster economic growth, and enhance competitiveness among EU Member States.
According to Cyprus News Agency, Bulgaria’s request, submitted on October 1, 2025, was evaluated by the Commission, which found that Bulgaria successfully delivered 22 reforms and 19 investments focusing on significant areas like green and digital transitions, research and innovation, healthcare, social protection, sustainable transport, and business modernization. The Commission confirmed that Bulgaria achieved 48 out of 50 milestones and targets linked to the third payment request in its recovery and resilience plan.
The evaluation, however, identified that the milestone for establishing an operational anti-corruption body was not met. Additionally, certain aspects related to the enactment of legal acts concerning criminal proceedings and the accountability of the Prosecutor General were not fully achieved. Consequently, the Commission suggested temporarily deferring part of the payment as per the RRF Regulation, allowing Bulgaria to address these pending milestones while still receiving funds for the successfully completed ones.