Dear readers and partners,

We are happy to introduce to you this second for the year 2005 edition of the biannual English Digest of the Foundation for Local Government Reform. Here we would like to present to you some of those articles that could be of interest to the reader outside Bulgaria, that were published in the monthly information newsletter of the Foundation The Local Self-Government Reform .

The FLGR s newsletter is disseminated among all 264 Bulgarian municipalities, 28 regional authorities, regional and professional associations of municipalities, ministries, National Assembly, institutions, organizations and NGOs, working with local governments in Bulgaria. The newsletter serves as a forum for exchange of ideas, professional experience and innovations, gives timely information on hot topics to the local government and local development sphere.

The articles in this issue cover topics such as implementing e-Municipality, formulation of Municipal Development Plans and Implementation programs, fruitful exchange of experience, Investment forum Municipalities Welcoming Business , the formulation of the municipal development plans, Innovative Municipality Award '2005, Municipal Radio Forum on the topic the Small BG Municipalities, Implementation of a composting program in the Bulgarian municipalities.

Beyond this edition remained all those themes and topics of high interest to the Bulgarian municipalities, enabling them to contribute to and benefit from forthcoming EU membership to the maximum: lessons learned by the new member states in the first year of membership and the challenges and possibilities of the projects co-funded by the EU Structural funds.

We hope you will find the digest interesting and useful!

Ginka Kapitanova,

Execitive Director, FLGR