The National Statistical Institute is about to receive a mandate to conduct negotiations with the statistical office of the European Commission “Eurostat“ to amend the boundaries of territorial units for statistical purposes, which are currently 6 statistical regions. This is provided for in a draft decision of the Council of Ministers, which has been published for discussion on the Public Consultation Portal (draft of the Council of Ministers).
The concept for new regionalization of the country will cover only the classification of territorial units for statistical purposes (NUTS), established by Regulation (EC) No. 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Future changes in the classification will not affect the administrative-territorial division of the country and will not affect the existing 28 administrative districts.
The project was developed by a working group at the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, which also includes experts from the NSI, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Administration of the Council of Ministers, the Institute for Economic Research of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria. A change in the classification is necessary because some of the current level 2 regions no longer meet the minimum population requirement.
As a result of the work of the working group, three priority options for a new scope of level 2 regions, meeting the Eurostat criteria, have been identified. They are presented in the annex to the project and what they have in common is that in all three the capital is separated into an independent region.
The deadline for submitting opinions and statements on the concept for new zoning is February 28, 2025, and by the end of March this year Bulgaria and the other EU member states must send their proposals to the European Commission (EC). If the proposals for amending the classification are approved by the EC, they will enter into force on January 1, 2027.