Bulgaria

This report outlines the findings of a review of public investment processes in Bulgaria and provides recommendations for improving its effectiveness and efficiency. It focuses on infrastructure planning, investment and delivery at the national and municipal levels. The report identifies what Bulgaria should retain and improve upon to ensure that investments made at the European, State and municipal levels achieve value for money and contribute to people’s well-being and living standards.

Anti-corruption agencies must mainstream integrity policies and procedures to safeguard their activities, achieve their objectives and build public trust in their functions. This report provides concrete recommendations for strengthening Bulgaria’s Anti-Corruption Commission’s Code of Ethics and its system for undertaking integrity checks of staff. Both these issues are key to creating a culture of integrity within the organisation. The report is part of an EU-funded project under the Technical Support Instrument Regulation and highlights relevant good practices from OECD member countries and provides tailored recommendations in Bulgaria’s context.

This report discusses the costs and benefits of the transition from cash to accrual accounting in the public sector for SIGMA partners in the Western Balkans and the European Neighbourhood. The countries are attracted by the promises of accrual accounting and the corresponding IPSAS standards that it will improve transparency, accountability and financial decision-making. This report investigates whether the reform towards accrual accounting is indeed recommendable given that the reform towards IPSAS-based financial statements also carries a higher administrative burden and often requires government-wide adaptation or adjustment of the financial information systems. In this report, evidence from case studies of five EU Member States and four SIGMA partners is combined with a review of the academic literature to understand the balance of the benefits versus the costs of the reform.

The Regulatory Policy Scan of Bulgaria assesses the country’s regulatory management capacity by taking stock of regulatory policies, institutions and tools, describing trends and recent developments, and identifying gaps in relation to good practices. Improving the entire regulatory policy cycle will ensure that regulations are developed on a foundation of solid evidence and public participation and designed to enhance citizens' security, health and wellbeing at a reasonable cost. Together with the Centre of Government Scan and Public Integrity Scan this policy paper is a part of the governance scan series drafted in the framework of the 'Driving Public Administration Reform Forward' project funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support.

The OECD Centre of Government Scan of Bulgaria assesses the functioning and organisation of the centre of government (CoG) in Bulgaria. It focuses on three main areas: 1) the functions and mandates of the CoG to perform a strategic and steering role, 2) the CoG’s supportive role in decision- and policy-making systems, and 3) strategic planning and the CoG’s ability to define government priorities across government and translate them into measurable objectives. The Scan forms part of the project 'Driving Public Administration Reform Forward in Bulgaria' which aims to support the implementation of Bulgaria’s reform priorities. Together with the Public Integrity Scan and Regulatory Policy Scan this policy paper forms part of the governance scan series carried out with the financial support from the European Union via the European Commission's Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support.

The policy paper provides an overview of the institutional landscape on public integrity in Bulgaria, focusing on its key co-operation mechanism – the National Council on Anti-Corruption Policy – and the way it can best serve the implementation of Bulgaria’s main strategic anticorruption document, the National Strategy for Preventing and Countering Corruption. It also addresses the institutional arrangements for integrity within entities of the executive branch and elaborates on how they can be best strengthened and supported by national integrity actors. Together with the Centre of Government Scan and Regulatory Policy Scan this policy paper is a part of the governance scan series drafted in the framework of the 'Driving Public Administration Reform Forward' project funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support.

This report analyses Bulgaria's legal framework for administrative penalties. Administrative penalties are crucial for ensuring accountability in the public administration. The report assesses the subjective scope of their application, the typologies and levels of administrative penalties, and the proceedings for applying them. The report highlights relevant good practices from other EU Member States, and provides recommendations on how to address key challenges as well as legislative proposals for building a comprehensive legal framework.

Around one-third of the European Union’s budget is dedicated to cohesion policy, which promotes and supports the overall harmonious development of its Member States and regions. The success of this investment relies on effective partnerships among governments, stakeholders, and citizens. Citizens have a key role to play in shaping decisions on public investment, as well as in making public authorities more transparent and accountable. From July 2020-December 2021, the European Commission and the OECD partnered to explore how five authorities across Europe could place citizens at the centre of their investment decisions. This report summarises lessons learned throughout this project and, particularly, the results of applying innovative citizen participation methods to cohesion policy more broadly.

Bulgaria has made solid progress in its territorial governance and socio-economic development. Yet, it has not been able to counteract large and increasing territorial disparities. Doing so will require addressing remaining structural challenges that may be limiting further transformation, government performance and regional resilience. It will also depend on shifting from a centrally-designed approach to regional development policy to one that incorporates subnational input and carefully considers regional specificities. Such a shift, coupled with a revitalised multi-level governance model to strengthen regional and municipal governance, could generate more balanced regional development and inclusive growth in Bulgaria. This multi-level governance study considers the avenues Bulgarian national and subnational authorities could take to ensure more place-based regional development and governance. It emphasises a comprehensive, yet incremental, approach to decentralisation and regionalisation reforms to generate more effective and balanced regional development.