site.btaGovernment Establishes Board to Coordinate Bulgarian Presidency of EU Council

Sofia, August 30 (BTA) - The Council of Ministers Wednesday adopted an ordinance on the establishment of a board to coordinate Bulgaria's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the government information service said. This guarantees the operational supervision of the negotiation process of all stakeholders within the Council. Where necessary, the Board has explicitly been authorized to give instructions about the manner in which negotiations are conducted, as well as to offer the European Affairs Council revisions to the framework positions under the files discussed.

The Board will be chaired by the Deputy Minister in charge of the Bulgarian Presidency in 2018, who is responsible for relations with the European Parliament. The Board shall include the head of the Prime Minister's political cabinet, deputy ministers, representatives of the governing authorities of other institutions, Bulgaria's permanent EU representative, as well as the directors of the EU Affairs Coordination Council at the Council of Ministers and EU Policies and Institutions Directorate at the Foreign Ministry.

The ordinance also regulates the manner in which the Deputy Minister responsible for the Bulgarian Presidency will be prepared to participate in the process.