21-09-2012
This is an important step for Bulgaria as it is the first time (after the changes in 1989 and possibly even before that) that the government adopts an overall vision of how it wants to treat CSOs.
On September 5, 2012, the Bulgarian government adopted the first-ever Strategy for support to CSOs together with a proposed Mechanism for Financing CSOs.The strategy also provides for the creation of a Council for Civil Society Development under the auspices of the Prime Minister and also discusses the possibility to create a Fund for Civil Society. ECNL's affiliate, the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL) was instrumental in providing the idea and then developing both the strategy and the financial mechanism. In other Bulgarian news, the Ministry of Finance issued a clarification regarding the VAT on philanthropic text messages clarifying that VAT will not be charged for the part of the SMS that is a pure donation.