Commission greenlights Bulgaria’s second payment request under NextGenerationEU

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, the Commission positively assessed Bulgaria’s second payment request  under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.

The payment request includes 28 reforms and 12 investments.

Following its assessment of the payment request, the Commission found that Bulgaria has successfully completed 58 of the 59 milestones and targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision for the second instalment of Bulgaria’s recovery and resilience plan.

Flagship measures in this payment request include:

• a reform to increase the quality and accessibility of education and training at all levels, aiming to boost workforce skills and support long-term economic development;
• a reform to strengthen the justice system and public procurement frameworks, increasing transparency, efficiency, and accountability, while adopting robust whistleblower protection mechanisms to foster integrity and public trust;
• a regulatory initiative to define energy poverty with the aim of protecting vulnerable consumers
• an initiative to develop electricity storage capacities, ensuring stable energy supply and expanding the use of renewable energy.

These reforms and investments aim at enhancing the quality of life for Bulgarian citizens by cutting energy costs, lowering carbon emissions, and promoting social inclusion through targeted improvements in education, healthcare, and digital infrastructure.

The Commission also found that one milestone related to the reform of the Anti-Corruption and Illegal Assets Forfeiture Commission (Milestone 218) remains unfulfilled. As a result, the Commission proposes to temporarily defer a portion of the payment in accordance with Article 24(6) of the RRF Regulation. This approach allows Member States to address outstanding milestones while still receiving funds for those milestones and targets that have been successfully completed.

Next steps

Bulgaria submitted its second payment request of €653 million again on 23 July 2025. The Commission has reviewed whether Bulgaria met the conditions needed for this payment and shared its preliminary assessment with the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC). The EFC has four weeks to deliver its opinion. Once it gives its opinion, the Commission can officially approve the payment to Bulgaria.

In parallel, the Commission informed Bulgaria of its preliminary assessment.

Bulgaria now has one month to respond to this assessment.

If, after that, the Commission still considers the milestone not to be completed, it will temporarily withhold part of the payment. The amount withheld will be calculated using the Commission’s standard method, outlined in Annex II of the RRF Communication.

Bulgaria will then have six months to take action and address any remaining requirements. Once the milestone is completed, the remaining part of the payment will be released.

Background

Bulgaria’s Recovery and Resilience Plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures. The plan is financed by €6.17 billion in grants.

An interactive map showcasing example of reforms and investments supported by the RRF is available online. Further details on the RRF payment claim process is equally available online.