Bulgaria will cooperate with Romania in the field of regional development

The Minister of Regional Development Desislava Terzieva and the Deputy Prime Minister of Romania Liviu Dragnea signed a Memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Regional Development of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration of Romania for cooperation in the field of regional development. The document has been signed in presence of the Prime Ministers of Bulgaria and Romania - Mr. Plamen Oresharski and Mr. Victor Ponta.
The signing of the Memorandum expresses both countries will to undertake common actions and to coordinate activities at national level in compliance with the EU policies.

The document is a ground for the development and the strengthening of the cooperation between both countries in the following areas of regional development: improvement of the cooperation and coordination at the level of local state administration; management of the Territorial Cooperation Program Bulgaria-Romania; development of mechanisms for the regional development policy and management of various financial instruments for the implementation of joint projects; sustainable development; implementation of cross-border and macro-regional strategies.

Both countries undertake to promote cooperation for the development and implementation of strategic projects of mutual interest in priority areas such as transport infrastructure, energy infrastructure, navigation on the Danube River, cultural exchange between the municipalities along the Danube River. 

According to the Memorandum Bulgaria and Romania will cooperate to initiate and implement joint projects related to the EU Strategy for the Danube region. The countries shall provide mutual support during the participation in the Transnational Program Danube 2014-2020; Black Sea Basin Cooperation Programme and Connecting Europe Facility.

Minister Terzieva and Deputy Prime Minister Dragnea signed a Protocol for amendment of the Memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Regional Development of the Republic of Bulgaria, as a National partner body, and the Ministry of Regional Development and administration of Romania, as a Managing body of the Program for cross-border cooperation Romania- Bulgaria 2007-2013.

As a result, the amendment will enable savings of nearly 37 million Euro under the Program to be invested in additional projects in the priority areas accessibility and environment.

During the bilateral meeting between Minister Terzieva and the Deputy Prime Minister Dragnea were discussed the priorities under the Operational programs for regional development of the two countries for programming period 2014-2020.

The main points of the cross-border Program Romania-Bulgaria have been also discussed as well as the intensification of the cooperation in the process of preparation of the program.