Bulgaria's Government adopted a Program with 5 Main Priorities until the End of 2024: Eurozone and Schengen among them

Five are the main priorities contained in Bulgaria's management program for the period from June 2023 to December 2024, adopted by the government today. The deadline specified in the announcement of the government press service means that the tasks are planned until the end of the mandate of the cabinet with Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel, after "We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria" and GERB agreed on a rotation of the Prime Minister 9 months after the election of the government of Nikolay Denkov on June 6.

The program is the result of an agreement reached between "We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria" and GERB-SDS. It contains specific activities of the government in fulfillment of the commitments for legislative initiatives agreed between the two coalitions supporting it before the formation of the cabinet.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov stated that the program is directly related to the state's budgets and without financial support, it will remain just a set of good intentions. He called on the leaders of the parties supporting the cabinet to correct "some wrong decisions" made yesterday in the parliamentary budget and finance committee. Boyko Borissov, Kiril Petkov and Hristo Ivanov have already committed themselves to corrections.

The five priorities in the program are:

1. Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen area by the end of 2023.

- The aim is to carry out all the necessary activities in order to meet the requirements of the European partners for the acceptance of the country in Schengen. The government plans to strengthen border control by creating an effective infrastructure and organization of work, with which Bulgaria will contribute to the general security of European borders. A set of new anti-corruption measures will be introduced and the security services will be reformed.

The abolition of the borders between Bulgaria and the neighboring EU countries will lead to a significant easing of traffic and a shortening of the time of stay at the borders, which will give an additional boost to tourism, trade and all other areas of cross-border business, the government states.

2. Joining the Eurozone from 1 January 2025.

- Bulgaria will work in close cooperation with the European institutions and partners in order to fulfill all the necessary conditions for the successful completion of the process. The cabinet will propose budgets for 2023 and 2024 with a 3 percent annual budget deficit. It will conduct a large-scale explanatory campaign about the benefits of the introduction of the single European currency, which aims to refute the disinformation spread and dispel the concerns of some of the Bulgarian citizens. In it, the government will defend the many benefits of the euro for citizens, businesses and the economy, such as the abolition of conversion fees; stimulation of European investments in Bulgaria and creation of more, better quality and better paid jobs; strengthening the competitiveness of Bulgarian enterprises; increasing price and economic stability and accelerating growth; facilitating and cheapening the trade of Bulgarian enterprises in the Eurozone and beyond; better integrated and therefore more efficient financial markets.

3. Controlling inflation.

- The government will take the necessary measures and reforms to stabilize the prices of goods and services and create a favorable economic environment for businesses and citizens. The Council of Ministers will support and encourage the development of innovation and industry as well as agriculture. It will strengthen control over the appropriate use of subsidies and against potential abuse of the provided financial resources.

4. Implementation of reforms and projects from the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan.

- The cabinet will take concrete actions, including through legislative initiatives, to ensure the effective implementation of the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan and the absorption of subsequent payments. The foundations will be laid for a green and digital transformation of the economy in the context of the ambitious goals of the European Green Deal. The government expects the implementation of the plan to restore the potential for growth of the economy, will develop and increase it, which in the long term will achieve the strategic goal of convergence of the Bulgarian economy and equalization of income levels in Bulgaria with those of Central Europe.

5. Improving the efficiency and transparency of municipal project management.

- The government is planning a targeted financial resource for municipal projects, which will allow municipalities to realize their priority initiatives for development and improvement of services for citizens. In order to guarantee maximum publicity and transparency in the expedient spending of the funds for the municipalities, a predictable and objective methodology for the evaluation of the projects will be developed.

Read the full program of the Cabinet of Ministers of Bulgaria for the period from June 2023 to December 2024 here (in Bulgarian).

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