Round table on "Cohesion in the EU as a Central Priority of the Bulgarian Presidency: Proposals for Reforming the Financing of EU Policies"

Convergence in the EU as a Priority of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU – Trends and Prospects

Prof. Irena Ilieva, PhD

Acting Director of the Institute for the State and the Law at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

The Institute for the State and the Law at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Union of Economists in Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Association of International Law organised a round table on 20 December 2017 on the topic "Convergence in the EU as a Central Priority of the Bulgarian Presidency: Proposals for Reform of the Financing of EU Policies".

Twenty-eight scholars and practitioners took part in the round table, among them Prof. Metodi Hristov, DSc (Economics), of the University of Insurance and Finance; Prof. Tatyana Hubenova-Delisivkova, PhD, Chair of the Union of Economists in Bulgaria; Prof. Irena Ilieva, PhD, Acting Director of the ISL at BAS; Assoc. Prof. Dencho Georgiev, PhD, Deputy Chair of the Bulgarian Association of International Law; Prof. Stefka Naumova, PhD, of the ISL; Vasil Todorov, PhD, Secretary General of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Assoc. Prof. Zhivko Georgiev, DSc, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE); Prof. Dinko Dinkov, UNWE; Prof. Darina Zinovieva, PhD, of the ISL; Prof. Ganeta Minkova, PhD, of the ISL; Judge Sibila Simeonova; Toni Dimov, PhD, Chair of the Centre for Legislative Impact Assessment; Chief Assist. Prof. Tsvetanka Lozanova, PhD, of the ISL; doctoral students at the ISL; and members of the Union of Economists in Bulgaria.

Prof. Metodi Hristov gave a presentation on "The Financial Future of the EU", in which he presented the current state of the EU and the prospects facing it. Assoc. Prof. Dencho Georgiev focused on the issues for discussion and on specific proposals to be formulated and presented in support of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU. Prof. I. Ilieva critically assessed the administrative capacity to make use of the cohesion policy and placed emphasis on competitiveness, and in particular on small and medium-sized enterprises. Mr Dimitar Ninov of the Union of Economists in Bulgaria proposed focusing on internal problems such as the shadow economy and low tax collection, as well as on other areas such as healthcare and education. Chief Assist. Prof. Tsvetanka Lozanova, PhD, delivered a statement on "Cohesion Policy after 2020 in the Context of the Strategic Agenda of the Council – 1 July 2017 – 31 December 2018". Prof. Dinko Dinkov called for the document to be drawn up with a return to the values of the founders of the Communities, and above all to the ideas of Jean Monnet, which have been somewhat forgotten by the current EU leaders. Toni Dimov, PhD, raised the issue of the infringement procedure initiated by the European Commission against Poland.

The main ideas that will be included in the final document are directed along the following lines:

• EU budget funds should be directed only to lagging economies, among them the Bulgarian one;

• The introduction of progressivity in the financing of EU policies should be proposed. This means that the contributions of the Member States to the EU budget would increase or decrease depending on the deviation from the average value of gross national product (GNP) per capita.
  

What specifically can Bulgaria do during its Presidency?

• Bulgaria could prepare and submit (possibly together with other directly interested parties from Eastern, Central and Southern Europe) a proposal in the Council of the EU for a request to the Commission under Art. 241 TFEU that the Commission carry out studies and draw up proposals for the introduction of progressivity in the contributions of the Member States on the basis of GNI (by means of a coefficient reflecting deviations from the EU average values of GNI per capita) and for reforms in the financing of EU policies, so that they are consistent with the values of equality and solidarity and with the objectives of overcoming economic, social and territorial inequalities (laid down in Art. 174 TFEU and Art. 175 TFEU).

• During its Presidency, Bulgaria can work with the directly interested parties to formulate the main parameters of the policy reforms to be included in the Council's request to the Commission under Art. 241.

As a result of the compilation of the views and opinions expressed, a document will be drawn up and published on the websites of the Union of Economists in Bulgaria and of the Institute for the State and the Law at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.