Minister Kristian Vigenin chaired a meeting of the Council for European Affairs
08 July 2013 News
“Improving co-ordination and co-operation among all government institutions on European issues is essential for Bulgaria’s full participation in the various European policies,” Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin said at today’s meetings of the Council for European Affairs.
He emphasised the need to build coalitions within the EU on all issues that are important for fulfilling Bulgaria’s interests.
“The government has a clear priorities regarding combating youth unemployment, the negotiation of a new EU financial framework, the absorption of European funds, which must be subject to their effectiveness and the achievement of a long-term positive impact on the Bulgarian economy. This is to a large extent the result of the work of the administration and our collective responsibility,” Kristian Vigenin said.
At today’s meeting, the Council adopted a report on the implementation of measures resulting from EU membership for the first six months of 2013. Bulgaria has achieved good results in the transposition of EU directives on the internal market, and by July 4, there were only four directives not transposed by the deadline, out of a total of 1367 – a non-compliance rate of 0.3 per cent, which is half that of the previous reporting period.
At the same time, because of the lack of a working Parliament for three months, the first half of the year saw some delays in the implementation of the plan for 2013, with 37 per cent non-implementation, or 46 out of 122.
The Council for European Affairs considered three draft positions of the Republic of Bulgaria for the upcoming meetings of the EU Council in various formats, namely agriculture and fisheries and environment, and adopted reports from the working meetings of the EU Council on employment, health and the environment.