July 6 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Wednesday that it adopted a partnership agreement with Bulgaria, which will enable the country to receive 11 billion euro ($11.2 billion) under the EU's Cohesion Policy 2021-2027 to promote economic and social investments as well as the green and digital transition.
The amount will be disbursed for ten national operating programmes under the European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the Just Transition Fund (JTF) and the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), the EC said in a press release.
More specifically, Bulgaria will receive 2.4 billion euro from the ERDF and CF to further its climate goals. Out of that amount, 600 million euro will be deployed to help renewable energy reach a 27% share of total energy consumption, to cut down energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in public buildings as well as to recycle 70% of all packaging waste.
Investments will also target a reduction by at least 35% in the share of the population living at risk of natural disasters, such as floods or wildfires.
The JTF, for its part, will provide 1.3 billion euro to guarantee a socially and economically sustainable transition in Bulgaria.
Nearly half of the total cohesion funding, or 4.2 billion euro, will be invested in Bulgaria's northwest, north central and northeast regions. This includes co-financing for the construction of the Shipka Tunnel, the first tunnel under the Stara Planina mountain range.
The agreement also unlocks 2.6 billion euro from the ESF+ to improve access to employment, upskilling for the green and digital transition, and for equal access to quality and inclusive education and training. This includes 315 million euro for youth employment support, 630 million euro for social inclusion measures of which 136 million euro to tackle child poverty, and 221 million to help address the socio–economic integration of marginalised communities, such as Roma.
The EMFAF, for its part, will invest around 84.9 million to improve the sustainability of Black Sea fisheries and to promote sustainable aquaculture and seafood processing.
"We now look forward to the completion of negotiations on the ten operational programmes so that Cohesion Policy can start investments in key areas such as clean environment, better education, support for businesses and transport infrastructure as soon as possible," Elisa Ferreira, EU Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, said.
EU support for business is expected to increase the share of innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Bulgaria to 32% in 2026 from 27% in 2016.
($ = 0.9812 euro)