Bulgaria 2018 EU Presidency: Priorities & Policies
Thursday, 02 March 2017
Precisely ten years ago - at the beginning of 2007 - Bulgaria became member of the European Union. Since then the country has seen a great changing though in certain aspects it is still on the verge of two worlds - the European East and the European West. In 2018 Bulgaria will take over the rotation presidency of the Council of the European Union from Estonia, and after six months leading the bloc will hand over the presidency to Austria. This presents an exceptional opportunity for the country to articulate its ideas about the development of the Union and to take an active part in shaping European policies. The objectives set for the Presidency should be ambitious enough however feasible too.
The conference „The future of Europe, Bulgaria's EU Presidency 2018 and the priorities of the Bulgarian business and society” that was held in Sofia voiced the priorities for the period January-June next year.
Bulgarian Member of the European Parliament from the European People's Party Eva Maydell said more about three of them:
“Our foremost priority is how to create more jobs, greater competitiveness and stronger growth. If we show clearly that we stand behind enterprising people, innovation and a progressing economy, we can give it a lot of meaning. The second priority is related to the protection of all European Union citizens. This is about ways to have better security and higher-quality justice. Therefore I am happy that Bulgaria is one of the countries which have clearly and consistently maintained their position advocating a strong, independent and effective European Prosecutor's Office to implement and provide quality protection of the financial interests of the Union. Encouraging e-justice and introduction of technology to the judicial system are also of critical importance. The third priority of the Union is to grow into a powerful factor in international affairs, a topic which has gained in importance lately. Here what matters most is leadership at the European level.”