site.btaForeign Minister Kondov Takes Part in Informal EU General Affairs Council Meeting

Caretaker Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov took part in the informal meeting of the EU General Affairs Council, which was held in Budapest on 2-3 September 2024, the Foreign Ministry here said on Tuesday. The main topics of discussion at the Council were competitiveness, the rule of law through better lawmaking and tackling Europe's demographic challenges.

The EU ministers focused on the following three areas to boost European competitiveness: a new industrial deal; tackling demographic challenges and fostering innovation; public and private finance. Kondov took part in the panel discussion on demographic challenges, insisting on a cross-sectoral approach to integrate demographic policies in sectors such as education, employment, cohesion, technology and innovation, health. Such an approach should provide for the necessary funding for Member States. The need to strengthen the link between research and business in order to stimulate economic growth was also highlighted.

The plenary session was devoted to improving the EU lawmaking process, with the Bulgarian side focusing on the need for the Commission to improve impact assessments of new legislative initiatives, taking into account national specificities and the cumulative effect of all European legislation in a given area. A call was made to reduce the regulatory burden for businesses, citizens and national administrations.

In the framework of the Council, Minister Kondov held a meeting with the Minister for European Affairs of Hungary, János Boka, where emphasis was placed on the abolition of controls at Bulgaria's Schengen land borders in the framework of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Among the issues discussed was the European integration of the Western Balkan countries, the press release also said.