Poor quality of the administrative capacity, comparatively weak audit bodies and insufficient provision of information systems - those are the main weak points of Bulgaria in the usage of EU funding according to Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hübner
, BGNES reported from Brussels.

Commissioner Hübner pointed out that the Commission was contented with the decisions made by Deputy Prime Minister Plugchieva but emphasized that Bulgaria still had to present high quality projects for EU funding.

Hübner stressed that EC still expected the action plan by the government in regard with the projects that had been blocked on July 23rd. She reminded that the deadline for the plan was November 23rd. The Commission would then send its auditors to Bulgaria to make an on-the-spot examination of what has been achieved. Only after their assessment a decision will be drawn whether the EC would unblock funding on projects like Lyulin Highway and other road rehabilitation projects, financed by ISPA pre-accession funds.

"We will check whether the system in Bulgaria is clean", Danuta Hübner said. She added that EC was now expecting the results from the second audit by KPMG. The results from this audit would also be taken into account in making the final decision. "We will restore the payments or will make our own corrections after our auditors are through with their work in Bulgaria", Danuta Hübner underlined.