Bulgaria’s Labour and Social Policy Minister Nataliya Efremova Tuesday outlined the idea of codifying legislation in the field of social support. The aim is to establish a more logical system by making existing measures more consistent and easier to understand, she added. Efremova was speaking at a public consultation on the effectiveness of social support in this country.
Efremova said that social support is currently governed by a number of different laws and regulations. “There are eight laws and 59 different types of benefits and measures for people with disabilities, families with children, war veterans and children under protection measures,” she said. Social pensions, supplements and cash benefits that are not based on social security contributions are regulated by the Social Security Code, she added. According to Efremova, people often find themselves asking which law and which institution are responsible for meeting their needs, as well as what documents they need to provide. “This is precisely where the purpose of codification lies: it should not be the person who has to understand the system; rather, the system should recognize that the person needs support and determine what kind of support they may be entitled to,” the Minister said.
In 2020, social assistance was provided to 340,000 families, compared with 427,000 at the end of 2025. The financial resources allocated increased by 87% over the same period. Under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 665,000 people received support in 2020, while the number in 2025 was nearly 100,000 higher. Funding increased from BGN 472 million to BGN 879 million, Efremova said. She added that 26,000 people had personal assistants in 2020, compared with more than 88,000 in 2026, while funding had increased to BGN 1.2 billion. Under the Family Allowances Act, BGN 550 million was provided in 2020, covering 688,000 children and families. By the end of 2025, funding had risen to BGN 660 million, with more than 771,000 families and children receiving support.
Efremova said these figures showed that people increasingly expect support from the State. “We need to respond to this not only with more funding but also with a better-organized system,” she added.
The Minister noted that there must be clarity about people’s rights, the eligibility conditions, deadlines and procedures for receiving support. There should also be accessibility. “When the State already has information about a person, it should be able to use it rather than turning citizens into couriers between institutions as they carry documents from one place to another,” she said. Efremova also said that codification should go hand in hand with digitalization. Another objective, she added, should be better coordination between institutions and between the different laws governing social support.
The Minister also emphasized the importance of predictability in public spending. “When we have a unified legal framework, we can better forecast how much funding will be needed for social support, while also assessing what results we are achieving,” Efremova said.
The purpose of new codified legislation is not to restrict rights, she noted. “On the contrary, our aim will be to create more transparent and clearer rules and make support more accessible,” Efremova said.
The event on Bulgaria’s social support system was opened by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Galab Donev.
Labour and Social Policy Minister Outlines Idea of Codifying Social Support Legislation 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-09-29 12:08:54
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