Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister for European Funding Maria Nedina has told Nova TV that active negotiations are under way with the European Commission to extend the 4 May 2026 deadline for establishing an anti‑corruption commission and a mechanism for overseeing the prosecutor general in Bulgaria, with some initial positive signals from Brussels. Nedina also warned that Bulgaria still has around €2.5 billion left to receive under its Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), and urged the next government to complete the required reforms by the end of August 2026 to avoid losing funds and worsening the budget deficit.
Talks Underway to Stretch 4 May Anti‑Corruption Deadline
Interviewed on Nova TV’s morning show on Saturday, Maria Nedina, the caretaker Deputy Prime Minister for European Funding, stated that negotiations with the European Commission are “active” and that there have been “positive signals” that the 4 May 2026 deadline for setting up an anti‑corruption commission and a supervision mechanism for the prosecutor general could be slightly extended.
As reported by Ivona Velichkova and Yoana Vodenicharova of the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), Nedina framed the talks as part of a broader push to align Bulgaria’s judiciary and anti‑corruption framework with the European Union’s expectations while preserving macro‑financial stability. Nedina did not specify the exact length of the proposed extension but emphasised that the Bulgarian side is seeking only a “slight” shift rather than a major postponement of the reform timeline.
Fiscal Backdrop: Higher Spending, Lower Revenues
In the same interview, Nedina addressed the state of public finances, telling the Nova TV audience that investment spending has risen while revenues have declined, which she attributed to the final phase of the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the ongoing pension indexation.
According to the BTA‑based report authored by Velichkova and Vodenicharova, Nedina noted that Bulgaria still has approximately €2.5 billion left to receive under the RRP, underscoring that the next government will inherit a substantial window of opportunities as well as obligations. She warned that failure to carry out the remaining reforms by the end of August 2026 would risk losing these funds and would negatively affect the budget deficit, although she stopped short of putting a precise figure on the fiscal impact.
Dismissing Claims over Bulgarian Development Bank Refund
Nedina also pushed back against claims circulating in political and media circles that returning €1.4 billion from the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) to the state budget would halt energy‑efficiency renovations, municipal projects, or other European programmes.
As relayed by Velichkova and Vodenicharova, Nedina asserted that €246.5 million earmarked under the energy‑efficiency renovation programme is still being disbursed through the BDB and remains fully accessible to municipalities and building owners. She added that the same applies to the municipal investment programme, under which the BDB is expected to distribute €460 million, stressing that the controversial €1.4 billion to be returned is unrelated to these two programmes and will remain available for the next government’s use.
Context within EU‑Funds and Recovery‑Plan Debates
The current discussion around the 4 May deadline echoes wider debates across the European Union over the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the 2026 cut‑off for post‑pandemic funds. In June 2025, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for an 18‑month extension of the August 2026 deadline for spending the €650 billion Next GenerationEU package, arguing that prematurely closing off funds would leave critical projects unfinished.
However, as highlighted by news outlets such as Euronews and Reuters, senior EU figures including European Council President Charles Michel have urged caution, stressing that any move to prolong deadlines should not undermine the original reform conditionality or the EU’s credibility. Bulgaria’s current push for a narrow extension on the anti‑corruption commission marks a similar, smaller‑scale attempt to reconcile domestic political calendars with external EU expectations.
Bulgaria’s European‑Funding Landscape
Domestically, Bulgaria’s European‑funding trajectory has seen sharp swings in recent years. In December 2025, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev announced that European funding invested in Bulgaria in 2025 alone amounted to about BGN 8 billion, the highest annual figure in Bulgarian history. This total combined disbursements under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) and Cohesion Policy instruments, including a REPowerEU “chapter” worth €480 million that Bulgaria negotiated into its plan.
Against that backdrop, Nedina’s current remarks resonate as both a technical scheduling issue and a broader political‑economic message: that while Bulgaria has made significant progress in absorbing EU funds, the final phase of the RRP requires disciplined reform‑delivery to avoid clawbacks and fiscal strain. Her emphasis on the €2.5 billion still waiting to be drawn down underlines the high stakes for the next cabinet, whichever coalition emerges after the upcoming elections.
Political and Institutional Implications
From an institutional standpoint, the contested anti‑corruption commission and oversight mechanism for the prosecutor general sit at the heart of the EU’s “rule‑of‑law” conditionality for Bulgaria’s RRP proceeds.
As presented by Velichkova and Vodenicharova, Nedina’s disclosures suggest that the caretaker government is trying to buy time for the incoming administration to complete the legal and organisational work, rather than face an automatic suspension of disbursements if the 4 May deadline passes unmet. That approach also reflects a broader pattern in the EU, where several member states—such as Italy, Romania, Portugal and Spain—have in the past lobbied for adjustments to implementation timelines amid delays in tendering, permitting and administrative capacity.
Energy‑Efficiency and Local‑Government Programmes
On the operational side, Nedina’s defence of the BDB‑channelled energy‑efficiency and municipal investment programmes is particularly significant for local governments and households.
According to the BTA‑based report, the €246.5 million for energy‑efficiency renovations continues to be managed through the BDB, meaning that renovation grants and loans for apartment buildings and public infrastructure are not being frozen by the proposed refund. Likewise, the €460‑million municipal investment programme is proceeding under the same institutional logic, with the BDB expected to funnel the money into local infrastructure projects such as roads, water systems, and public buildings.
Nedina’s clarification that the €1.4‑billion return to the state budget comes from a different pool of funds aims to defuse fears that the central government is siphoning off resources earmarked for concrete investment on the ground.
Looking ahead, Nedina’s statements, as reported by Velichkova and Vodenicharova, sketch a dual‑track scenario for Bulgaria’s next government. On one hand, it will inherit a substantial remaining envelope of RRP funds (about €2.5 billion) and a functioning pipeline of energy‑efficiency and municipal projects via the BDB. On the other, it will face a tightly delineated reform calendar, where missing the 4 May anti‑corruption‑commission deadline—or failing to deliver key judiciary‑related milestones by August—could trigger financial penalties or disbursement freezes, worsening the budget deficit and constraining public‑investment space.
