De minimis: Analysis of the Regulation and Practices for Applying the State Aid and de Minimis Aid Rules in Bulgaria and in Other EU Member States

Тhe title of this analysis may sound unrelated to the topics of NGOs, but this is not really true! This survey researches whether and how financing programs for NGOs in Bulgaria which aim to develop and support various civic initiatives and activities, apply the State Aid rules. An important part of the study is the comparative review of practices in other Member States, in order to understand whether there is equal treatment of civil society organizations within the EU or as a result of different enforcement there is unequal treatment.

“De minimis” analysis is a legal research aimed at putting forward proposals for the Bulgarian authorities to consider with a view to improving the application of the common EU rules and hence, and the legal and institutional environment for Bulgarian NGOs. More about our arguments you can find here.

The analysis was conducted under the “House of the Civil Society – Community for Development” Project (BG05/576), implemented by the Bulgarian Centre for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL) and ProInfo Foundation. The project is financed under the Support Programme for NGOs in Bulgaria under the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism over the period 2009–2014 (www.ngogrants.bg).