The Parliament has adopted a Position of the National Assembly on the draft Programme of the Republic of Bulgaria for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (1 January – 30 June 2018). The draft decision has been proposed by MPs from different parliamentary groups: Kristian Vigenin, Ivelina Vasileva, Dzhema Grozdanova, Peter Petrov, Ivan V. Ivanov, Polina Tsankova, Albena Naydenova and Miglena Alexandrova.
In the Position, the Parliament supports the priorities announced in the draft Programme of the Republic of Bulgaria for the Presidency of the Council of the EU and shares the key messages for consensus, competitiveness and cohesion, as well as the slogan “United we stand strong”.
The National Assembly suggests that before adopting the final programme, the government should take into account the following topics: EU budget; cohesion policy; the Common Agricultural Policy; defence, security and migration; the European social model; education and culture; digital market; enlargement and regional cooperation.
The Parliament encourages the government to work towards adopting balanced solutions to keep the unity between EU member states and implement the strategic priorities of the EU, and make efforts to achieve concrete results during the presidency.
The decision of the National Assembly envisages that the ministers will regularly inform the respective parliamentary committees on the progress in the implementation of the priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency. The outcomes of the EU Council meetings will be presented in the National Assembly.
Once adopted by the Council of Ministers, the final programme for the presidency will be presented in parliament.