Romania, Bulgaria Request More Time To Co-Finance EU-Funded Projects

The joint declaration was signed Friday in Sofia at the end of the meeting between Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc and his Bulgarian counterpart, Boiko Borisov. It concerns projects financed through the former ISPA (Instrument for Structural Policies for pre-Accession) program and the Cohesion Fund, approved between 2000 and 2006.

In the document signed Friday, the two governments also request that the eligibility of expenses related to projects valued at more than EUR100 million, backed by the European Commission and International Monetary Fund, and approved between 2000 and 2006, be extended to December 31, 2012.

Bulgaria’s Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Rosen Plevneliev, said last year that Bulgaria may have to return between EUR500 million and EUR700 million by January 1, 2011, for failing to complete several projects or failing to respect the deadlines imposed in the ISPA program.

Another document signed Friday is the Memorandum of Understanding regarding cooperation in the field of air traffic management and establishing a functional air space block, to include the two countries’ air space and the space falling under their international legal obligations.

According to a Romanian Transports Ministry press release, the memorandum aids to strengthen cooperation between the two governments towards creating a Functional Airspace Block (FAB), which would improve the quality of air traffic services provided in Romania and Bulgaria.

„The project, called DANUBE FAB, meets the requirements of the Single European Sky initiative and receives community funding through the TEN-T Program,” the press release says.