Bulgaria is absorbing EU structural funds at a level above the European average

Bulgaria is absorbing EU structural funds at a level above the European average. For the second year in a row, no errors were found in the eight transactions examined in the area of ​​natural resources and environment.

This is stated in the 2024 Annual Report of the European Court of Auditors (ECA), which was presented to the Bulgarian National Audit Office (BNAO) by ECA Member Iliana Ivanova.

“The fact that for the second consecutive year there are no errors found can be a good incentive to continue the common efforts to improve the effectiveness of control systems,” said Iliana Ivanova.

The President of the BNAO, Dimitar Glavchev, introduced her to the main highlights of the BNAO's Annual Report for 2024: 370 audits carried out, errors corrected for over 4 billion leva in the financial statements, financial resources of 2.2 billion leva checked for legality, over 77 percent of the recommendations given to the audited entities were implemented.

Iliana Ivanova congratulated the BNAO for its readiness to use artificial intelligence in its audits. Dimitar Glavchev announced the pilot project, prepared jointly with the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT), during the international conference “Artificial Intelligence and IT Audit in Safeguarding of the Public Resources”, dedicated to the 145th  anniversary of the establishment of the National Audit Office.

"You have raised the bar very high, not only for Bulgaria, but also for other Supreme Audit Institutions, because not everyone has the courage to step out of the routine and take a step towards the future," said Ivanova, who was also a participant in the high-level forum.

She presented the main highlights of the ECA's 2024 Annual Report to the BNAO TOP management and Directors of Audit Directorates:

- The overall error rate for the European budget decreases from 5.6% in 2023 to 3.6% in 2024. But this result is still above the permissible threshold of 2%.

- In the newly introduced eco-schemes in agriculture, complexity in the rules is noticeable, which makes it difficult for beneficiaries and leads to more errors. In this regard, Iliana Ivanova called for simplification of regulations.

There are several risks regarding the EU budget:

- The growing burden of debt, with an increase in loans of over 30% for 2024.

- High interest rates on NGEU loans.

- The drastic delay in the absorption of funds under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism and the Structural Funds, which at the European average level is only 7% by the end of 2024.