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President Plevneliev: Bulgaria Has the Potential to be a Regional Driver of the EU Plan for a Digital Single Market

Bulgaria has the potential to be a diver of positive changes in Southeastern Europe related to the European Commission’s plans for a Digital Single Market. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said, who received today Andrus Ansip, Vice-president of the European Commission in charge of the Digital Single Market.

The Head of State highlighted the good traditions Bulgaria has in IT and programming as an advantage of our country. The President further said that Bulgaria has the ambition to become a regional hub for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). “We consider the ICT clusters as an important part of the development of the Bulgarian economy,” Rosen Plevneliev said at the meeting. The Head of State emphasized that Sofia ranks third among the most attractive places in Europe for start-ups after London and Dublin and Sofia Tech Park is the only one of its kind innovative ecosystem in the region.   
 
The President said that the development of the Digital Single Market will be beneficial mostly for the people, and also for the SMEs, which will get an easier access not only to the digital market, but also to more top quality administrative services. “Integration and connectivity is the only road for the EU to achieve success,” Rosen Plevneliev further highlighted.  

The President said that he has always encouraged the development of e-governance and added that Bulgaria has a good basis for providing electronic administrative services. “The most important issue is how we can unite all administrative services in one platform,” the Head of State said and emphasized that this will save not only the people’s time and money, but also that of the business circles.  

Andrus Ansip, Vice-president of the European Commission, said that the creation of the Digital Single Market may contribute to a further growth of the EU worth 340 billion euros. Although in physical terms the EU has a single market, in digital terms there are 28 small markets with different regulatory frameworks and this sets up barriers, Andrus Ansip said. The Vice-president of the European Commission outlined three on which key sectors efforts will be focused to develop a Digital Single Market. These include ensuring the easy access of consumers and enterprises to digital goods and services, building an appropriate infrastructure and the establishment of specific standards in the industry.

Vice-president Ansip is on a two-day visit to Bulgaria to take part in a public debate organized by the European Commission on the future of Europe, e-governance and the Digital Single Market. The European Commission will present a strategy on the Digital Single Market on 6 May.