site.btaMEP Andrey Kovatchev: Future of Young People Is in European Union

“Europe is at a crossroads again and we have to take very important decisions for our future. As the European Union (EU) we must not remain marginalized, we must enable the European economy and the young people of Europe to find their future here- in Bulgaria, in their birthplace, in their home country and in the whole EU,” MEP Andrey Kovatchev said in Plovdiv, where he and his colleague Kristian Vigenin participated in a meeting of the European Parliament Ambassador School (EPAS) programme, with the participation of the heads of the EP Liaison Offices from Bulgaria, Romania and Greece.

In his words, what is important is to increase the competitiveness of the economy, more jobs, more income so that the state can redistribute, so that there is more for social needs and for the important topic of defence and security. Security attracts investors, and if there is instability in a country or in the EU, there will be no investors and it will become a marginal market for other bigger producers in the world, the MEP said. According to Kovatchev, there is an unnatural tendency of "brain drain" and innovative ideas that are created in Europe, in Bulgaria, but are implemented somewhere else because the environment is better there and funding is found faster. In his words, out of the world's 10 biggest companies, none is European, and this needs to be addressed so that young people can find their good future in the EU and in Bulgaria.

We need to make sure that overregulation is reduced, young people want to know whether if they create a small enterprise or a small business, they will find financial support, both from banks and European programmes and how they can get adequate education, which is in demand and is competitive on the labour market, Kovatchev said.

He said that there should be a better link between educational institutions and the needs of the labour market. "It is up to us whether we are ready to make a quantitative and qualitative leap in the understanding of politics in Europe," the MEP noted.

Of the Green Deal, he said there is now a rethink of some of the over-ambitious targets Europe had set itself in the previous mandate and over-regulation had reduced the competitiveness of European business. Now the aim is to increase the competitiveness of the European economy and therefore of young Europeans on the labour market - to have a better opportunity to find their livelihood and future in a good environment, said Kovatchev.

The topics discussed at the meeting in Plovdiv are identical with the activities in the European Parliament of MEP Kristian Vigenin - environment, disinformation, social networks, artificial intelligence and security.

“Everything that the EU does to protect the environment, to counter climate change, it must do so together with measures to make it easier for businesses, so that in the name of a cleaner environment we do not destroy European businesses and jobs”, Vigenin said.

In his words, on the topic of misinformation and social networks, work should be done on how to judge whether information is correct, how social networks should not be used to manipulate people. This is important for young people because they do not have the life experience to assess the information they receive through social networks, he said.

Young people are also interested in the issues of war, peace and stability. In Vigenin's words, many countries are bringing back compulsory military service, but in Bulgaria, he said, this is not possible in purely organizational and technical terms. "I hope we do not get to that point, the very fact that we are discussing the issue creates the feeling that we are under threat. I hope that things will develop in the coming months in such a way that this sense of threat will disappear and all ideas of investing billions of euros in armament and defence will be reconsidered. Because Europe's security is not just about weapons, it is social security, security in terms of infrastructure, security in terms of good education", the MEP concluded.  

A total of 100 students and 20 teachers from Bulgaria, Romania and Greece participated in the meeting in Plovdiv.

The European Parliament Ambassador School (EPAS) programme gives students the opportunity to understand their rights as citizens of the European Union and to learn about the role of the European Parliament.

The network includes around 2,000 certified European Parliament Ambassador schools from across the EU, as well as teachers designated as Senior Ambassadors and 35,000 students designated as Junior Ambassadors. The programme offers schools the opportunity to exchange best practices and to cooperate in the implementation of the programme. The School Ambassador Network is part of a wider community that collaborates with the European Parliament, in particular through the zaednoza.eu platform.

It enables schools to participate in a wide range of activities organized by the European Parliament, its liaison offices and its institutional partners, as well as to liaise with various European, national and local bodies and civil society organizations.