site.btaIdea for New European Oceans Pact Presented in Burgas

Charlina Vicheva, Director General of the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission, attended a meeting in Burgas, on the Black sea, to  present the idea of a new European Oceans Pact.

The Black Sea is unique, very different from all other seas. It is for this reason that a specific approach is needed when the European Union defines its policies towards it. This was the consensus of the participants in the meeting.

Vicheva explained that one of the European Oceans Pact’s  important goals is to increase competitiveness, and this is a huge chance for local communities that can develop successfully through the blue economy. "We are talking about billions, hundreds of billions of annual turnover in the blue economy worldwide," she said.

The participants in the meeting requested greater support from the EU for Bulgaria and Romania. They stressed that these are the only Black Sea member states of the EU, which sometimes puts them at a disadvantage compared to the other Black Sea countries that are not committed to European requirements and directives.

"The Black Sea municipalities have great benefits from the EU. Both our treatment plants and our fishing ports were built with European funds, but it is important for us that when policies are determined, someone asks us, because we are not guests in the European Union, but we are part of it," commented the Mayor of Burgas, Dimitar Nikolov.