site.btaEconomy Minister, EP International Trade Committee Chair Discuss Bulgaria's EU Council Presidency

Brussels, November 8 (BTA) - Economy Minister Emil Karanikolov met on Wednesday with Bernd Lange, Chair of the International Trade Committee with the European Parliament, the Economy Ministry's Press Centre said. The two discussed the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council in 2018.

Karanikolov said that the priorities in the field of the common trade policy will be presented before the International Trade Committee in the end of January 2018 which offers good opportunities for a feedback from the MEPs on the main dossiers on the EU agenda.

The main priorities in the trade area involve strengthening the confidence in the World Trade Organization and affirming the multilateral trade system as well a reaching multilateral agreements in the field of investments and trade in goods and services, the Minister said.

Karanikolov also presented the upcoming events in the trade area related to the Presidency and invited Lange to an informal meeting of the trade ministers which will be held in Sofia on February 26-27, 2018.

Karanikolov also met with Andreas Schwab, a coordinator at the European People's Party at the European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). The two discussed the future political cooperation between the EU Council and the European Parliament in the field of the internal market. The Bulgarian Minister stressed the priority importance of competitiveness in the programme of the Bulgarian Presidency and said that the efforts will now focus on the legislative proposals related to the Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe and the Single Market Strategy.

Schwab noted the importance of overcoming the hindrances to the internal market. In his opinion, the removal of the differences between the member states will lift the living standards which includes bringing the Bulgarian people's standard to the EU average.