Think small first in crises!

The various dimensions of the effects of the COVID-19 crisis and the multiple "lockdowns" for the different business sectors are not fully clarified yet, but it is a fact that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are severely affected, both on the Union and the national level. The Bulgarian state faces the need to provide support that adequately responds to the imposed restrictive measures, on the one hand, and to develop policies promoting the recovery and overall resilience of SMEs to subsequent shocks, on the other. Although the National Strategy for SMEs 2021-2027 envisages financial measures to overcome the COVID-19 consequences and a separate package of measures for better regulation, currently Bulgaria lacks an integrated approach to better regulation in crisis situations, where the interests of all stakeholders are taken into account and balanced in a transparent and open way. Obviously, in situations of crisis where decisions for adoption, implementation and monitoring of policies have to be made in short time, the traditional quality management tools for regulation as impact assessment and stakeholder consultations, are not fully applicable in their current forms. As it is already evident the periodic waves of pandemic and the related economic and other crises, will be an integral part of our lives in the coming years, we should think of adapting the existing instruments for public decision-making of good quality. Therefore the project plans to study the process of adopting, implementing and monitoring policies and measures related to crisis prevention and resolution finding ways to optimize it, while making it more open, more integrated and inclusive for one of the traditionally most vulnerable groups - SMEs. It also seeks to assist the administration as much as possible in finding the optimal balance between the protection of human health and overcoming the negative economic and other consequences associated with the imposed restrictive measures.

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