Bulgaria may be temporarily deprived of part of the money from the second tranche under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, but only if the anti-corruption commission is politically and financially dependent, the European Commission told the Bulgarian National Radio.
The creation of such a commission is among the key stages necessary for the second payment. If Bulgaria has a problem in this area, but has fulfilled the other key stages and objectives, it will receive the money for them. Only the payment of funds earmarked for the anti-corruption reform will be delayed by 6 months. However, this is hypothetical for now, the Commission points out.
If this happens, Bulgaria will have time to complete the key stage within this period according to how it was set out in the national plan, and then the Commission will carry out another assessment.
The Commission is completing the assessment of Bulgaria's application for the second payment. It should be ready within two weeks, Berlaymont assured.