05.02.2020
The Prime Minister met with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels. With that his working visit to the Belgian capital began.
The focus of the talks was climate change. The Bulgarian Prime Minister pointed out that our country shares the position of the European Commission that this is a global problem of increasing importance, which requires efforts from all countries. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov noted that in countries with coal having a high share in the energy mix, such as Bulgaria, the transition to climate neutrality will require significantly higher investments and active measures in the social sector.
"The priority for Bulgaria continues to be to ensure a smooth, socially and economically just transition towards achieving climate neutrality. And it requires significant resources and a more ambitious Multiannual Financial Framework," Borissov told Ursula von der Leyen. The Prime Minister added that it is important for our country that the forthcoming Commission initiatives on climate legislation take into account national specificities and are based on a thorough impact assessment for individual Member States.
During the meeting between Boyko Borissov and Ursula von der Leyen, the active work of Bulgaria in all areas concerned with the achievement of the indicators of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM) was pointed out. "We are grateful to the European Commission that these consistent efforts and their results were objectively evaluated in the latest CVM report for Bulgaria from October 2019," Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said. He was certain that, given the conclusions of the latest EC report and the repeated evidence from Bulgaria, our country remains fully committed to reforms that are sustainable and irreversible. In this context, the EC is expected to make a formal decision to terminate the Mechanism for Bulgaria.
"We highly praise the active support and commitment of the European institutions towards the Western Balkans. It is important to maintain the commitment of the EU to the region so as to build on the achievements so far, which have had a positive impact for the Western Balkans," underlined Prime Minister Borissov before the EC President.
The Bulgarian Prime Minister pointed out that Enlargement policy is a key tool for achieving peace, stability and security in the Western Balkans. "Bulgaria has always been consistent in its support for the region based on the principle of their own merits," Prime Minister Borissov said. He noted that the Enlargement brings both the Western Balkans and the EU invaluable benefits such as predictability and prosperity.
"We expect the Croatian Presidency to achieve good results for the six Western Balkan countries at the forthcoming Summit in Zagreb in May," Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told the EC President. Borissov emphasised that our country has established good cooperation with the Croatian Presidency, including in the context of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia co-hosting the Berlin Process this year.
