The amendments to the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act enter into force on 1 January 2018
On 8 September 2016, the Bulgarian Parliament adopted at second reading the amendments to the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act (NPLEA). The deputies to the National Assembly voted "FOR" transferring the registration procedure of non-profit legal entities from district courts of their headquarters to the Registry Agency and establishing a Council for Civil Society Development which will facilitate the implementation of the state policy for encouraging and financing the civil society initiatives.
Transference of the registration procedure of non-profit legal entities from district courts to the Registry Agency - most important points:
-All existing civil society organizations will have 3 year-period of time (from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020) shall transfer their registration from the relevant district court of their headquarters to the Registry Agency (hereinafter "Agency"). The transference procedure is free of charge.
-Applications for initial registration or entering of changes in the Registry of Non-Profit Legal Entities at the Registry Agency will may be submitted electronically using a secure digital signature;
-Each non-profit legal entity shall submit application for re-registration to the Agency together with its Statutes/Act of Donation authenticated by the relevant court or by the representative of the organization. The Agency shall entry the organization on the basis of the application for re-registration, the authenticated Statutes/Act of Donation and the certificate for actual status of the organization issued and sent ex officio by the relevant district court to the Agency within 3-day period of the day of request.
Main consequences after amendments in the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act:
-The Central registry for non-profit legal entities carrying out activity in public benefit to the Ministry of Justice closes down. Within two months after entering into force of amendments in the NPLEA, the Central registry shall furnish all the information about the entered Bulgarian organizations and branches of foreign non-profit organizations to the Agency. Therefore, the organizations will no longer be required to adopt internal rules for carrying out activities in public benefit.
-The annual activity report and financial report of the non-profit organizations carrying out activity in public shall be submitted at the Agency until 30 June of each year, following the year to which they relate.
-If an organization do not submit its annual activity report and financial report within 2 years, the Agency shall ex officio enter "with temporarily suspended status of public benefit" to the organization`s registration batch.
-Two new circumstances shall be additionally entered in the Registry of non-profit legal entities to the Agency: 1) Scope of economic activity and 2) Names of the management body members;
-In case of changes in circumstances, subject of entry in the Registry of non-profit legal entities (for example, change of the registered address, change of the Manager), the organization shall declare these changes before the Agency within 1-month period after their occurrence.
-All declared changes before the Agency shall be entered in the Registry of non-profit legal entities to the Agency within 3-day period.
State policy for civil society development support
The state policy in the field of civil society organizations will be implemented by the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers will periodically adopt and update the Strategy for supporting development of the civil society organizations in Bulgaria (hereinafter "Strategy"). Council for Civil Society Development shall be established to the Council of Ministers. It will consist of 15 members. The Chairperson of the Council for Civil Society Development without right to vote will be the Deputy Prime Minister, who will be responsible for the implementation of the Strategy. The Council for Civil Society Development will be composed by representatives of non-profit legal entities in public benefit determined by the Council of Ministers as members for a period of three years after holding a transparent and competitive procedure. The procedure has the following steps:
1.Public announcement on the website of the Portal for public consultation (www.strategy.bg);
2.Preliminary registration of the non-profit organizations;
3.Nomination of the candidate-organizations for Council` members;
4.Election of the organizations;
5.The elected organizations shall appoint their representative who will be member of the Council and his/her deputy.
A non-profit legal entity in public benefit can apply for being a member of the Council only if it has at least 5-year experience of carrying out activities in public benefit in support of the development of the civil society and civil participation. Within 3 months after entering into force of the amendments in the NPLEA, the Council of Ministers shall adopt Regulations of Organization and Procedure of the Council for Civil Society Development.
Each year they will be provided and spent funds from the state budget in order to encourage and support financially the projects of public interest of non-profit organizations in public benefit. Within 6 months after entering into force of the amendments, the Council shall adopt rules on permissible activities of public importance that can be funded; the terms and mechanisms for spending the public funds; the conditions, terms and method for recruitment, assessment and selection of project proposals, as well as for the accountability and control over the implementation of funded projects. After assessing the projects, the Council will submit a proposal to the Council of Ministers on the allocation of funds under the established conditions and procedures. The members of the Council for Development of Civil Society will not be paid for their activity. The Council members, the organizations they are representing and persons related with them will be able to apply with projects for funding. By 30 June each year, the Council will report its activities to the Council of Ministers.
The adopted amendments in the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act are expected to reduce the administrative burden for the registration of the non-profit legal entities, to increase their transparency and accountability, to improve the communication between civil society and public authorities and to contribute for the sustainable development of civil society organizations in the country.