site.bta Deputy PM Kuneva: Economy Tops Bulgaria's Agenda in 2015

Deputy PM Kuneva: Economy Tops Bulgaria's Agenda in 2015


Sofia, January 4 (BTA) - The economy will top Bulgaria's agenda
in 2015, and the primary concern is to create a favourable
environment for businesses to prosper, Meglena Kuneva, Deputy
Prime Minister responsible for Coordination of EU Policies and
Institutional Affairs, told Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday.

Kuneva said the demands raised by business people can serve as
an action plan for the government. Such demands concern the
administrative environment, electronic government (which by now
has become embarrassing to list among the political priorities,
she said), and the judicial reform.

The sad effects of the lack of those three conditions are that
enterprising people feel discouraged and that the education and
health care systems are not used to give educated and healthy
people good prospects for personal development at home or
elsewhere in Europe and to transform their personal success into
 success for society, Kuneva said.

Other priorities in 2015 include EU policies and the judicial
reform, she said, adding that she will seek support from all
parliamentary groups for that. Election legislation is also a
matter to be addressed in the first few months of 2015, because
what are known as "ghost voters" must be dealt with in time for
the local elections, she said.

The Bulgarian Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2018 is
 a project which should start now, Kuneva stated. It should
start by examining how knowledgeable the public administration
is and by planning the allocation of duties among the separate
parts of the administration. Any military operation would seem
small compared to the effort of organizing an EU Presidency,
Kuneva said. She noted that no money has been set aside for the
purpose yet, but she has asked the Finance Minister to look to
it in the second half of 2015, if possible. In the meantime, the
 government will make do with what it has, Kuneva added.