site.btaForeign Minister Naidenov Outlines Priorities of Bulgarian EU Council Presidency in 2018

Foreign Minister Naidenov Outlines Priorities of Bulgarian EU Council Presidency in 2018

Sofia, February 23 (BTA) - The priorities and principles of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2018 were outlined by caretaker Foreign Minister Radi Naidenov here on Thursday. He spoke at a discussion on "Europe's Future: the Bulgarian Presidency and the Priorities of the Bulgarian Business and Public," organized by the Sofia Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, the Information Office of the European Parliament and the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum.

Naidenov is convinced that at a time when the question of whether we need more or less Europe is asked ever more frequently, Bulgaria's answer is: "We need a better Europe".

"Our contribution to the debate on the future of the EU will be based on a vision of keeping the integration model as a model of overcoming the problems," he pointed out. "Hence, the guiding principles of the Bulgarian Presidency will include a responsibility for achieving the Union's common goals and priorities and keeping the Union's integrity and unity through a search for common solutions and responses to the common challenges, but also taking into consideration the issues that are sensitive to each Member State. Other principles are strengthening solidarity and cohesion as founding principles in all EU actions, continuity, predictability, and certainty in the decision-making process as successive presidencies rotate."

"The most intensive stage of Britain's withdrawal from the EU will take place during the Bulgarian Presidency. Brexit poses a challenge both to the UK and to the EU, but we must take advantage of its lessons in building a future Europe, which should be more pragmatic, with more tangible benefits for citizens and with more adequate answers to their expectations and concerns," the Foreign Minister commented. In his opinion, with growing Euroscepticism and a surge of populism even in Europe's old democracies, the EU's legitimacy must prioritize the policies that prove the Union's added value: internal and external security, socio-economic security, growth and sustainable economic future, effective and long-term solution to the migration problem based on tangible, hands-on solidarity among Member States.

The Bulgarian Presidency will seek to reinforce strategic conceptualization of the Union's challenges and priorities. Even though enlargement policy is not among the Union's strategic priorities at present, Bulgaria, as President of the Council, will try to focus Member States' attention on the integration of the Western Balkans as a strategic investment in common European security, stability and progress.