Bulgaria hosted a high-level conference on the next Multiannual Financial Framework

Tomislav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria (left), and Vladislav Goranov, Minister of Finance of Bulgaria (right). Photo: Plamen Stoimenov (EU2018BG)

“The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU is planning the process related to the negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to start immediately after its presentation by the European Commission in May. Progress on this dossier is crucial, as it is in the interest of all European citizens. Therefore, we will work hard to achieve maximum progress at technical level on the legislative proposal of the Commission within the working groups to the Council”,

stated Vladislav Goranov, Minister of Finance and Chair of the ECOFIN Council, at the opening of the high-level conference on “Next MFF: distributive, allocative and stabilization function”. Bulgaria hosted the event, which falls within the priority areas of the Ministry of Finance during the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Tomislav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, said:

“The key point in the future negotiations on the MFF will be to find a balance: between the financing of new challenges and the traditional policies and between flexibility and predictability, as well as to strive to preserve the long-term strategic nature of investment. We must provide the necessary cohesion for the EU in order to have an efficient, fair and ambitious Multiannual Financial Framework in May.”

Günther Oettinger, Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, delivered an address to the participants in the high-level political discussion within the conference. In his statement, he pointed out:

“Speaking about how the next long-term budget of the EU should look like now should help more easily reach an agreement once the proposal is out. A speedy deal on the budget post-2020 is important for the EU. Otherwise, 100,000 EU-funded projects may be delayed and hundreds of thousands of young people would not benefit from an Erasmus+ exchange in 2021. We cannot allow that.”

The participants in the political debate on the future of EU public finance beyond 2020 included Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the EU as well as other institutions responsible for the MFF negotiations. The discussions involved delegates from European institutions, including the Committee on Regional Development of the European Parliament, the European Committee of the Regions, the European Court of Auditors, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU, the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria and other leading European institutions and organisations.

The political debate was preceded by an expert thematic discussion where the main topics included the appropriate policy mix for effective spending and the possible ways to adjust the current own resources system to the new environment. Participants in the panel were experts from the Ministries of Finance and Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Member States, representatives of the European Commission, the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU and leading European non-governmental organisations.

Photos from the event are available here.

Videos from the meeting are uploaded here.