Legal Committee Backs Freeze on MPs’ Salaries

According to a proposal by Progressive Bulgaria, backed by the committee on Thursday, MPs’ salaries should be set at three average monthly wages in the public sector, based on data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) for March 2026.

The parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee decided today that lawmakers will receive remuneration equal to three average monthly public-sector salaries, in line with national statistics data for March 2026. The change was introduced through an amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly. The proposal, which effectively freezes salary growth at the level of the first quarter of the year, was put forward by PB.

The proposal still provides for the possibility of increasing MPs’ salaries. According to the text, this may occur in line with income policies in the public sector as set out in the State Budget Act for the respective year. As a result, salaries will no longer be automatically recalculated every three months, as is currently the case.

The new amendments to the National Assembly’s Rules of Procedure were approved by the Legal Affairs Committee without debate and with the silent unanimous support of all parliamentary groups. Comments were nevertheless made to journalists before the start of the meeting at which the proposal was reviewed.

Petar Vitanov, chairman of PB’s parliamentary group, described the measure as a necessary act of solidarity with citizens amid ongoing economic challenges and as a step toward restoring public trust in the institution. He said the issue had often been raised in the past with increasing intensity and a certain degree of populism.

The changes are expected to be submitted to the plenary chamber in the near future. The explanatory memorandum states that the measure introduces a unified approach to planning public expenditure, replacing the current mechanism of automatic indexation.