This follows the European Commission decision of 23 July 2008 to withdraw the accreditation of the CFCU and to suspend payments of EU Grants in Bulgaria. The decision of the Financial Mechanism Committee is made with reference to Article 11 of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bulgaria and the EEA EFTA states, which obliges the beneficiary state to take proactive steps in order to ensure adherence to the principles of good governance.
The EEA EFTA States will continue the dialogue with Bulgaria in order to find a solution which ensures good governance, and hope this can be achieved in time for implementation of Bulgarian projects.
The decision to suspend payments does not apply to the NGO Fund, which is implemented directly by the Financial Mechanism Office.
Key facts on Bulgaria:
- u0009Total allocation from the EEA Grants: €21.5 million;
- Priority Sectors under the EEA Grants: Environment, Cultural heritage, Human resources, Health and childcare;
- Call for individual projects: Total amount: €17.2 million; 40 applications received at the Financial Mechanism Office (plus 21 reserve projects);
- Technical Assistance (€0.5 million): in implementation;
- NGO Fund (€2.1 million): in implementation;
- Scholarship Fund: under preparation.u0009
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For more information, please contact Sigve Soldal Bjorstad, Head of Information, Financial Mechanism Office, telephone number +32 2 211 18 84/+32 498 177 003, e-mail: ssb@efta.int