Deputy prime minister Atanas Pekanov, who oversees EU funds, said on Facebook that money for cohesion and farming has not been cut in the new draft EU budget for 2028–2034 from Ireland's EU presidency. Only one small sub-fund is an exception. The overall package falls by about another €100bn, to €1.6 trillion.
This story follows our earlier report on 17 EU countries, including Bulgaria, that asked for farming and cohesion money to stay untouched in the bloc's next long-term budget.
Ireland presented its proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework, as the EU's long-term budget is called, a day before Pekanov's post. Cohesion policy pays for infrastructure, health care, education, the environment and small and medium-sized firms.
"This proves that when we are active and have a solid group of countries that share Bulgaria's views, the right decisions are made in the EU," Pekanov wrote.
The "Friends of Cohesion" group has 17 members, including Bulgaria. They want no more cuts to cohesion policy. Pekanov said he has spoken in recent weeks to representatives of the group's members at various forums and meetings, and that Bulgaria will stay active in it.
That comes to about €230bn a year for the whole EU. The sum is a little above Denmark's budget and a little over 1% of the bloc's gross domestic product, which is the value of everything its member states' economies produce in a year.
The European Commission's first proposal last year was for almost €2 trillion. It is now being cut for the second time. Pekanov says the reason is that countries have not yet agreed how to pay for their higher ambitions.
"Obviously, if we give the EU more and more new tasks, it is hard for it to cope with all of them on the same small budget," the deputy prime minister wrote. In his view, the push for more cuts stops the EU from being a global player, backing weaker regions and farming, and investing in competitiveness, technology, science and defence.
Pekanov calls the proposal a step in the right direction that will speed up agreement on the next framework. But he also sees weak points. The first is the deadline for using the money. Until now, the rules gave countries three years after the set procedure. Now the proposal is one year. The deputy prime minister says flexibility matters for infrastructure and heavy projects, which often run late because of environmental assessments and court appeals.
The second weak point is that 25% of the money for countries will be set aside for crises and will not be available from the start of the period. Pekanov also calls the continuing cuts to the otherwise increased funding for science under "Erasmus" and "Horizon Europe" a big mistake. These are some of the best-known and most popular EU programmes for citizens. Criticism on these points will go on, he said.
Talks on the budget will last for weeks, most likely months. Pekanov expects them to be hard, but insists on reaching a workable deal that provides enough money for all regions, for competitiveness and for Europe's sovereign readiness in the 21st century.