EnglishRomania, which joined the EU together with Bulgaria on January 1, is "four years ahead" in its preparedness to efficiently manage European money and prevent fraud, according to European Union"s Anti-Fraud Office Director General Franz-Hermann Bruner, quoted by NewsIn.
The head of OLAF criticised Bulgaria and praised Romania for their preparedness to make proper use of the bloc"s funds. "The Romanians began to prepare long before Bulgaria and made the proper distribution of European funds their priority even before their accession," said Bruner. "The Bulgarian authorities have to realise that "the problems will not disappear if they have been ignored long enough," he added.
Bulgaria still has trouble with ensuring clear and transparent public tender procedures, while "the system creates the impression that it works for certain people by leaving loopholes that can be used by those who know the procedures," he said. OLAF is currently investigating 12 cases of fraud with money from the EU pre-accession funds as Bulgaria still has not started to make use of the over 11 billion euros made available to it in the first years after accession.
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