President Rosen Plevneliev, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn have reached an agreement to open the Danube Bridge II on 14 June. This is what the Bulgarian Head of State told journalists in Brussels.
Rosen Plevneliev also held a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras at which he had confirmed the commitment the Greek side took on to build the Makaza border crossing by June, as well as the new road connecting Bulgaria and Greece. “I do hope that soon we will shake hands and will open a corridor that is strategic for Bulgaria and Europe,” the Head of State pointed out.
Prevention of and fighting against youth unemployment and drawing on the German experience to resolve this issue was the major focus in the talks President Plevneliev held with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. On 3 June 2013 a conference will be opened in Berlin where not only the best practices, but also the opportunities that the EU member states have to take more efficient measures to this effect will be debated.
Presumably the energy efficiency policies are policies prompting economic growth. This is the opinion the EU leaders agreed on at their meeting held today, the Head of State informed. The energy efficiency programs provide the enterprises the chance to invest in new and more efficient equipment, Rosen Plevneliev pointed out.
The Head of State told the media representatives that in the past three months the caretaker cabinet has taken the necessary measures “and as of 1 July the Third Energy Liberalization Package can be fully implemented in Bulgaria.” This parliament is to resolve the important issue concerning the electricity prices for consumers. The caretaker government has provided a clear model of how this can take place, the President further clarified in his statement.
The Head of State was adamant that our country could set an example of securing low electricity prices in the EU. Regrettably, however, no big projects for investments in energy efficiency have been launched in Bulgaria in the past 20 years. “And namely energy efficiency is a major priority in Europe and Europe can occupy the first place in the world in terms of the energy efficiency technologies,” Rosen Plevneliev commented.
The major focus during the European Council summit was the development of the Nabucco-West project, whereby the diversification of the transit of energy resources to 16 European countries is ensured and the issues related to energy system connections and common rules of the energy market in Europe are resolved.
The EU leaders also debated the measures taken to fight tax fraud and tax evasion. The European states incur annual losses standing at about one trillion euros from tax fraud and therefore a broad consensus was reached to encourage the cooperation in this sector. Bulgaria can be one of the first countries to implement the idea whereby the state will no longer award public procurement contracts to off-shore companies, the Head of State commented.
The President praised the caretaker cabinet for adopting clear rules for managing the funds of the companies in which the state holds a share of more than 50 percent. “These rules were prepared in a most transparent manner and were coordinated with the Bank Association. A greater diversification while managing the risk of the state-owned companies’ funds will be thus achieved and the market will have a greater opportunity to work with such companies,” Rosen Plevneliev emphasized.