"The lack of objectives and of policies are among the principal flaws of the 2011 budget," according to Socialist MEP Ivailo Kalfin, Vice-Chair of the

European Parliament Committee on Budgets.

Kalfin, a former deputy prime minister and foreign minister (2005-2009), is also a key figure in the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival, a civic association which was established about a month ago and is related to President Georgi Purvanov.

The Bulgarian acronym of the Association, "ABV", is equivalent to "ABC" in English.

"The priorities of the EU budget include technologies, education, environmental protection, building links between business and science for the creation of a more competitive economy, whereas they are lacking in Bulgaria's budget and this takes us light years away from the European standards," Kalfin

argued at a news conference hosted by the BTA National Press Club on Sunday, at which the ABV presented its position on the 2011 budget.

"The most important reforms: in education, health care and the pension system, are postponed, taxes are increased through a rise in social insurance contributions, introduction of new taxes and increase of the retirement age," the MEP added.

"Fiscal stability and high-quality growth are cited as goals, whereas in a crisis the goal should be achievement of full employment by means of fiscal stability and high-quality growth," commented Assoc. Prof. Gancho Ganchev.

According to Prof. Chavdar Nikolov, the worst risk to the budget is the shrinking domestic demand.

The State's refusal to provide public services - above all in health care and retirement insurance, and the shifting of responsibilities: the Government says that it will not raise taxes but enables municipalities to do so, are the two gravest risks to the 2011 budget, according to Blagoevgrad (Southwestern Bulgaria) Mayor Kostadin Paskaloev. He argued that the State does not assume a commitment to the absorption of EU funds.

Paskalev, who is a former regional development minister, described as "cynical" the delay in the absorption of EU funds in health care under the pretext that there is no administrative capacity for this.

According to Kalfin, the concentration of EU funds in several major projects like motorways leads to distortion. The money should also be invested in an improvement of the urban environment, in addressing environmental problems and in health care, the MEP argued.

Source: BTA