What problem are you solving?:

Bulgaria, along with Romania, was the latest country to become EU Member State but during its two years of membership unfortunately got notorious for cases of misappropriation of finances received under EU funds. This triggered critical monitoring reports and actions on the part of the European Commission resulting in suspension of funds under Phare, ISPA, SAPARD, Structural and Cohesion Funds. Bulgaria’s image turned negative amidst growing dissatisfaction within the society. Information on the hot topic of distribution of EU funds, competitive procedures, decision-making, etc., which is published by central government bodies, is sporadic and chaotic. More importantly, it provides no opportunity for monitoring by the civil society.

Describe your idea:

To launch a watchdog web site where info on the work of the parliamentary Commission of European Affairs and Control of EU Funds, and Sofia Municipality’s Commission of EU Affairs and Relations with Civil Society – will be published and subjected to civil scrutiny. The site will be the first of its kind in Bulgaria to:
• Offer info on the activities and decisions of the two key public commissions on EU fund issues, and also an info search engine;
• Provide interactive online platform for two-way communication for citizens and CSOs concerned with the non-transparency of Government’s utilization of EU funds, featuring online forums, blogs, etc.
• Promote the web site as the first to tackle issues of lack of systemic information and accountability by using the web based info tools of our organization (www.europe.bg, http://direct.europe.bg, http://parliament.europe.bg, http://westernbalkans.info)

What country will this operate in?: Bulgaria

Who are you?:

The European Institute Foundation is a Sofia based non-profit organization with a 10-year experience in dealing with pre- and post- EU accession issues, providing consultation & advice, and also with enough project management and programming skills. We’ve had rewarding cooperation with many organizations, among them OSI, PASOS, etc.