On March 17, 2006 in Sofia has been held the first information day within the national campaign "The Operational Programmes 2007 - 2013: Possibilities for the Bulgarian Municipalities", initiated by FLGR in close partnership with all Managing Authorities of the Operational Programmes (OPs).

More than 80 participants mayors of municipalities and municipal experts from the municipalities within the South-West planning region, as well as district administration specialists, NGOs, banks and media took part in the event.

Representatives from the following ministries were partners and participated in the information day: the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the Ministry of State Administration and the Administrative Reform, the Ministry of Environment and Waters, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, the Ministry of Economy and Energy, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Agency for Economic Analyses and Forecasting. Interest towards the event showed also representatives from the Ministry of Culture, although not presenting an Operational Programme. Among the official guests of the event were the Deputy Minister of Environment and Waters Mr. Atanas Kostadinov and the Deputy Minister of Culture Ms. Nadezhda Zaharieva.

During the first information day each of the ministries had the possibility to present their Operational Programme and its priorities and measures, directly relevant to the municipalities. The agenda gathered presentations on 6 Ops (Regional Development, Administrative Capacity, Competitiveness of the Economy, Human Resources Development, Environment) and the National Strategic Plan for Rural Development.

The wide and detailed information related to the general logic of each OP and the specifics of its priorities and measures especially those, targeted to the municipalities, brought up many questions and comments on behalf of the municipalities and helped a more realistic perception about the forthcoming challenges and tasks for the local governments with relation to their preparation for successful participation in the implementation of the OPs. A good and timely information provided to the local and regional levels is with no doubt important for the adequate preparation of the local and regional administrations, but all present at the information event municipalities from the South-West planning region expressed their concern regarding the short period of time left for preparation activities and lack of nation-wide initiatives, which could better support the efforts of the local governments and their social and economic partners to participate in the successful and effective absorption of the future EU Structural Funds.

The national information campaign continues with information days for the South-Central planning region (Plovdiv, 21 March 2006) and the South-East Planning region (Jambol, 22 March 2006).