In brief
EU Commissioner Piotr Serafin visited Bulgaria on October 29‑30 to discuss the next Multiannual Financial Framework. He met the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Municipal Association leaders, and toured STEM and space‑tech sites. Stakeholders urged cleaner rules and better transparency for EU funding.
EU Commissioner Piotr Serafin will visit Bulgaria on October 29‑30 to discuss the next Multiannual Financial Framework and meet with government officials, municipalities, and research institutions.
On Thursday he will confer with Prime Minister Rumen Radev, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Galab Donev, and Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov, who manages EU funds. The meeting will be followed by the opening of a conference titled "The Next Multiannual Financial Framework: Priorities and Principles" in Sofia. The event is jointly organised by the European Commission Representation in Bulgaria, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, and the Sofia office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Friday’s schedule includes a session with members of the National Association of the Municipalities to exchange views on the regional aspects of the National and Regional Partnership plans for the next MFF. Serafin will then visit the National STEM Centre in Sofia Tech Park, a hub for science, technology, engineering and mathematics managed by the Ministry of Education and Science and co‑funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
After the STEM Centre, he will tour the laboratory and mission‑control room of EnduroSat, a satellite manufacturer and space‑service provider funded by the European Innovation Council. On both visits, Commissioner Serafin is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov.
Over the course of his tour through 22 EU countries, Serafin has gathered insights that are shaping the 2028‑2034 MFF proposal. A central theme of the discussions is the urgent need to simplify complex funding procedures, ease administrative burdens, improve transparency, reduce overlapping regulations and enhance legal consistency to make EU funding easier to navigate.
