Round table under the project "Think Small First!"

On 18 September 2019, a Round Table on the project "Think Small First!" was held at the Sofia Holistic Coworking Company (Soho). The project is funded under the Operational Programme "Good Governance", co-financed by the European Union through the European Social Fund. The event was organised by the Institute for the State and the Law at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in partnership with the Institute for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Policies and the Centre for Legislative Impact Assessment. The Round Table brought together representatives of the administration for the validation of the project proposals, non-governmental organisations and academia. During this joint meeting, good practices and proposals were presented for introducing a mechanism for the proactive engagement of business in decision-making. Those present included Assoc. Prof. Ergyul Tair, PhD, Scientific Secretary of the "Man and Society" field of the BAS, Mr Krasimir Bozhanov, Director of the "Modernisation of the Administration" Directorate at the Council of Ministers, Prof. Mitko Dimitrov, of the Institute of Economic Research at the BAS, Assoc. Prof. Albena Nakova, PhD, Scientific Secretary of the Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge at the BAS, Mr Iskren Ivanov, Head of the "Legislative Impact Assessment" Department in the "Modernisation of the Administration" Directorate of the Administration of the Council of Ministers, Vasil Todorov, PhD, Secretary General of the BCCI, and others.

At the opening of the Round Table, Prof. Irena Ilieva, PhD, Director of the Institute for the State and the Law at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, presented the main objectives of the project: first, to study the extent to which business, and in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, is involved in the processes of formulating, implementing and monitoring policies and legislation, and to identify the problems and deficits; and second, to propose mechanisms encouraging the administration to involve business, and SMEs in particular, actively in these processes as an approach. Prof. Ilieva stressed that the purpose of the Round Table was not to analyse, interpret or theorise the legal framework for impact assessment with regard to SMEs, but to propose appropriate guidelines and instruments for the practical application of these mechanisms.

During the Round Table, the other participants also set out their positions on the issues raised in a comprehensive and systematic manner: Mr Krasimir Bozhanov, Director of the "Modernisation of the Administration" Directorate at the Administration of the Council of Ministers; Toni Dimov, PhD, Chairman of the Centre for Legislative Impact Assessment; Ms Delyana Doseva, representative of the Institute for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Policies; and Prof. Rumen Brusarski, a long-standing lecturer in public finance at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE).

A number of important questions were raised, and opinions on them were expressed in the lively discussion that followed.

At the closing of the Round Table, Prof. Irena Ilieva, PhD, reminded the representatives of the administration for the validation of the project proposals, the non-governmental organisations and the academic community present that the event is part of the calendar of events dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.