The mayor of Razgrad was part of the national delegation to the European Committee of the Regions

The Mayor of Razgrad Municipality, Dobrin Dobrev, participated on April 23 in a meeting of the Management and Control Council of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria. At it, he was elected as one of the three representatives of the Bulgarian local authorities in the European Committee of the Regions.

At the beginning of the meeting, the members of the leadership of the mayor’s association discussed with the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Ivaylo Ivanov current issues from the social sphere, directly related to the activities of the municipalities. Funds will be provided for the continuation of the “Home Care” procedure and for the provision of additional funds to extend the term of the “Hot Lunch” program, assured Minister Ivanov. The mayors and the minister commented on the progress on the procedure for carrying out construction activities and supplying equipment and furniture with a view to reforming the existing homes for the elderly, as well as the progress on the preparation of the National Map of Social Services.

During the meeting, the members of the Board of Directors of NSORB discussed a package of proposals concerning the appropriate regulation of the labor relations of the elected persons in the local government, as well as guaranteeing the sources of financing the remuneration of the municipal councilors. According to Art. 7, paragraph 2 of the European Charter of Local Self-Government (ECHA), local elected officials have the right to “adequate financial compensation for the expenses incurred in connection with the exercise of the powers, as well as, where necessary, financial compensation for lost benefits or remuneration for work done and social security accordingly.” The charter was ratified by the Bulgarian Parliament in 1995. With changes in the ŽMSMA over the years, the remuneration of the councilors and the chairman of the municipal council were tied to the average gross salary in the administration and the mayor’s salary. Bulgarian labor legislation still lacks a comprehensive legal regulation of all aspects of the specific labor relations of elected officials. NSORB will initiate a debate that, in addition to the topic of achieving adequate modern regulation, will also include the application of high standards in the functioning of local democracy.

The members of the NSORB management also made a decision in connection with a letter from the Minister of Finance regarding received proposals for changes to the Law on Local Self-Government and Local Administration and to the Law on Public Finances, as contradicting the State Constitution.

The Board of NSORB adopted a package of measures with which the Association’s team will provide support to the municipalities in the implementation of the reform in the determination of the Household Waste Fee and the implementation of the “Ordinance on the procedure for preparing and the model of the plan-account for the relative costs of carrying out the activities on providing the services for which the municipal waste fee is paid and on the method of calculating the amount of the fee when applying the bases provided for in the Law on Local Taxes and Fees” and switching to calculating the municipal waste fee per quantity from January 1, 2025 . The Board decided that the problem related to the overall reform in the field of waste should be raised at the level of the government and Parliament and that all responsible institutions and organizations should be involved in it.

Positions and opinions of the NSORB were adopted on the Draft Law on the introduction of the euro and the discussed changes to the Road Transport Act, as well as on the draft Ordinance on the terms and conditions for payments with public funds.

The management of NSORB reviewed and discussed the data from the Analysis, which is annually prepared by the Association’s team, of the rates of local taxes and the amounts of local fees in 2024.

The nominal composition of the permanent commissions of the NSORB for the term 2023-2027 was approved, the first meetings of which are planned to be held in the second half of May and the beginning of June.

The compositions of the international delegations of NSORB were updated and the representatives of the Association in Monitoring Committees and national and interdepartmental consultative bodies were updated. The mayor of Razgrad, Dobrin Dobrev, together with his colleague from Burgas, Dimitar Nikolov, and the chairperson of the Standing Committee on International Cooperation and Tourism, European Programs and Projects in the Metropolitan City Council, Tsvetelina Simeonova Zarkin, were appointed as part of the national delegation to the European Committee of the Regions. The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is an EU advisory body that represents local and regional authorities across the European Union and gives an opinion on new laws affecting regions and cities (70% of all EU legislation). The CoR is a political assembly composed of 329 members and 329 deputies from all EU countries (grouped by political party headed by a president) who hold elected office at local or regional level (mayors or presidents of regions). They meet in Brussels up to six times a year to discuss their views on proposed legislation and come up with resolutions on further EU action.

The Board of NSORB approved the regulation of the second edition of the National Youth Competition “Me for my municipality: one problem – one solution”, which this year will encourage the active participation of young people in public campaigns to promote the separate collection of waste and recycling.

By a decision of the Board of Directors of NSORB, a “Strategic Development of Municipalities” team is structured within the structure of the Association, which will be involved in the integration of key horizontal policies in the work of municipalities: stimulation of local economic development, introduction of “green” policies and implementation of the principles of sustainable development, digital transformation, the development of public-private partnerships, the effective management of public resources, etc.

At the suggestion of the mayor of the municipality of Vratsa, Kalin Kamenov, it was discussed in the new cycle of negotiations for drawing up the state budget that the issue of providing the opportunity to conclude tripartite agreements with the Minister of Finance in the cases of imposing financial corrections for projects should be put on the agenda again , related to public investments.

The management of NSORB also discussed steps for legal changes to limit the possibility of utility companies to abuse the possibility of emergency activities and on this basis not to restore the damaged street network. The question will be raised at a National meeting of the chief architects of the municipalities.

The Board of Directors of NSORB adopted a decision at the beginning of the next meeting to invite representatives of the three electricity distribution companies to discuss the problems in maintaining the electricity transmission network.

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