Radio Bulgaria

On 1st July, Belgian took over the six-month rotational presidency of the European Union. This happened at a very difficult time for the union because of the ongoing economic crisis and important institutional changes related to the application of the Lisbon Treaty. This is the 12th presidency of Belgium. More about it from the Belgian Ambassador to Sofia Marc Michielsen:(audio)

Everything related to the economic and financial crisis will be among the main priorities of EU for the next 6 months. Belgium has the ambition to move things forward with European legislation related to stricter regulation of finances and tightening up of budget discipline. During the Belgian presidency, the difficult adoption of EU’s 2011 budget is to take place.

Concerning Bulgaria, the main priorities for the next 6 months are related to justice and home affairs as well as to obtaining a positive report about the preparation for Eurozone accession. Deputy Prime Minister and Internal Affairs Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov expects Bulgaria to become part of the Schengen area already in 2011. Concerning progress in the fight against organized crime and corruption, experts think that due to hastened reforms the mechanism for Cooperation and Assessment between Bulgaria and EU may be abolished altogether. Others think the mechanism should be kept in place to assure continuation of the reforms. This is also the opinion of Interior Minister Tsvetanov.

“Bulgaria has to accept it that there is nothing wrong with the mechanism remaining in place,” says Interior Minister Tsvetanov. “Because it is a 100% guarantee to the Bulgarian society for the political will of the government.”

The fact that from 1st place the worries of Bulgarians about corruption and organized crime have dropped to 4th place speaks in favor of the progress of the government in the fight against them. The first worry of Bulgarians now is the economic crisis followed by unemployment and healthcare. This has emerged from a survey carried out by Open Society – Bulgaria.

English version: Delian Zahariev