Bulgaria will strengthen the administrative capacity of local authorities, President Rosen Plevneliev said at a meeting with President of the EU Committee of the Regions, Mercedes Bresso. According to Mercedes Bresso, local authorities will be able to actively participate in defining the priorities of regional development. She expressed satisfaction with the activities of the National Association of Municipalities in Bulgaria and the intensive communication with the central government institutions.

President Plevneliev said that Bulgaria had set as its goal the completion of transport infrastructure that will link not only the regions, but also would be connected to international transport corridors. He said that local authorities see the construction of highways as a key factor to achieve successful regional development.

The President emphasised that Bulgaria sees as a key priority the implementation of the Danube Strategy and the development of the Danube as a pan-European transport corridor. Using only seven per cent of the capacity of the Danube does not meet the needs and capabilities of European countries - this is the view of the EC, which Bulgaria shares, President Plevneliev said. This requires improvement in terms of navigation and shipping. According to Mercedes Bresso, the Committee of the Regions strongly supports the linking of transport corridors in Europe as the most effective measure towards the economic prosperity of different regions, and this applies with particular relevance to the Danube.

President Plevneliev and Mercedes Bresso discussed mechanisms for European linkages, for which rail and water infrastructure projects will be carried. Bulgaria expressed reservations about the idea of transfer of 10 billion euro to this mechanism at the expense of the Cohesion Fund.

At the meeting, the President told Bresso that Bulgaria may use so-called. project bonds as an instrument to finance large infrastructure projects, for which funds are insufficient.

Also discussed were a further strategy for decentralization in the country and the prospects for expansion of regional co-operation in South Eastern Europe.