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Eu-Bulgaria Joint Parliamentary Committee EU-BULGARIA JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE 20th Meeting 28 November 2005 BRUSSELS DRAFT MINUTES 1. Adoption of the draft agenda (PE366.146/rev)............................................................ 2 . 2. Approval of the minutes of the 19th meeting of the EU-Bulgaria JPC, Sofia 24/25 January 2005 (PE 358.297)................................................................................ 2 3. Social policy and social inclusion of vulnerable groups, statement by Ms Emilia MASLAROVA, Minister of Labour and Social Policy of the Republic of Bulgaria, followed by an exchange of views.............................................. 2 4. Economic developments in Bulgaria: progress in maintaining sustainable growth and macro-economic stability, introduction by Mr Petar CHOBANOV, Executive Director, Agency for Economic Analysis and Forecasting........................................ 3 5. Progress in the adoption of legislation and its implementation, concerning justice and home affairs, introduction by Mr Margarit GANEV, Deputy Minister of Justice......... 3 6. Bulgaria’s contribution to the political and economic stability of South- East Europe and its role in furthering the European integration process in the region....................... 4 7. Exchange of views with the Commission, the Council and the Bulgarian Government on Bulgaria’s progress towards accession to the EU in the light of the Commission's 2005 Comprehensive Monitoring Report; the accompanying Letter of the Member of the Commission, Mr. Olli Rehn to the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Ivailo Kalfin................................. 4 Statements and briefings by: • Mr Olli REHN, Member of the European Commission • Mr Dominick CHILCOTT, UK Foreign Ministry Director of Europe, representing the Presidency-in-Office of the Council of the European Union • Ms Meglena KUNEVA, Bulgarian Minister for European Affairs 8. Implementation of the recommendations adopted by the EU-Bulgaria JPC at its 19th meeting in Sofia on 24/25 January 2005......................................................... 7 9. Adoption of a Final JPC Statement and of a Declaration on the imprisonment of the five Bulgarian nurses in Libya............................................................................................... 7 10. Any other business.......................................................................................................... 7 11. Date and place of the 21th meeting of the EU-Bulgaria JPC......................................... 7 Annexes: Lists of attendance Final JPC Statement Declaration on the imprisonment of the five Bulgarian nurses in Libya 23 February 2006 HO/VT/EC 1 Mrs. Catherine GUY-QUINT, co-chair of the JPC, opened the meeting at 10.15 and welcomed all present, especially the Bulgarian delegation. She said the outcome of the meeting was to be distributed to relevant committees and EU-Bulgaria friendship organisations in the 25 EU member states. She also mentioned that the Mr. VAN ORDEN's report recently had been voted on in the EP Foreign affairs Committee and that it would be dealt with in plenary during the December session in Strasbourg. Mr. Atanas Atanassov PAPARIZOV, co-chair of the JPC, welcomed all participants and said today's meeting was very important and timely. The EP has always supported Bulgaria on its way to EU membership, he said, while stressing that Bulgaria must now continue to fulfil the criteria necessary for accession. 1. The draft agenda was adopted. 2. The minutes of the last JPC in Sofia on 24-25 January 2005 were approved. 3. Ms. Emilia MASLAROVA took the floor and gave a presentation on social policy and the social inclusion of vulnerable groups. She said Bulgaria has continued its efforts within the social field with reforms such as decentralisation of social services, promotion of equal opportunities for disabled, regional programmes to combat poverty and improvement of child protection. More emphasis was being put on social inclusion of the most vulnerable groups, for example mentally disabled, and for the first time the 2006 budget has money especially earmarked for inclusion of minorities. She stressed that the national action plan for the inclusion of Roma was focusing on education, health, employment and working conditions. To achieve good results the Government was working closely with social NGOs. In the exchange of views that followed Mrs. Maria Ivanova ANGUELIEVA-KOLEVA made some additional comments on the progress regarding protection of the children and social inclusion. In particular, she said that services available to children, such as education and conditions in school, have been improved and that the general environment and attitude within the society were constantly changing for the better with the new laws. She said focus was now on implementing the Commission recommendations and mentioned the 2003 action plan aimed at inclusion and decentralisation as one of the tools for doing so. Ms. Mia DE VITS echoed many of Ms. MASLAROVA's words and stressed the importance of establishing a social dimension in dialogue with NGOs and the respect for equal opportunities. She brought up the role of employers and unions in this and asked for the Government's view on whether a social dialogue was taking place. More efforts were needed when it came to public health care, she added. Mrs. GUY-QUINT agreed with previous speaker on the need for a social dialogue and said the political will on the part of Bulgaria was very much visible. She stressed that focus needed to be put on implementation of the acquis into everyday Bulgarian life and called for increased aid from the EU. 2 Ms. MASLAROVA stressed that implementation of the acquis into everyday life and decentralisation were indeed important parts of establishing a social dialogue and achieving social inclusion. Coordination with social partners was a main feature of the Government social and economic development plan, she said. She emphasised the important role of the Bulgarian Parliament in monitoring implementation and its right to table amendments. 4. Mr. Petar CHOBANOV briefed the meeting on economic progress and stability policy in Bulgaria. He stressed the sustainable growth and macro-economic stability achieved mentioning specifically the services sector and the increasingly dynamic export sector. He spoke of the low inflation and decreasing unemployment. Reducing the current account deficit, improve business environment and enhance competitiveness were priorities. He also stressed that for the country to continue achieving economic progress it was important to maintain a social dialogue between the actors that are involved in implementing the economic plans. Mrs. GUY-QUINT said the Lisbon goals were indeed hard to implement in practice but that she was surprised to note, considering the progress made, that the Commission in its Monitoring Report found that the current pace of economic progress was slowing down. She then introduced the next speaker, Mr. Margarit GANEV and said the topic of his intervention, the reform of the judiciary, was a key to accession as it was perceived to be very important by the citizens of the EU. 5. Mr. GANEV presented progress regarding the adoption of legislation and its implementation, within the field of justice and home affairs. He echoed some of the main recommendations put forth by the Commission and ensured the meeting that due actions were being taken in the concerned areas. He said the adoption of the new criminal code was of great importance, as was the Administrative bill which was currently in front of the Parliament, hopefully to be adopted before the end of the year. He spoke on measures taken in the fight against corruption, such as the report on the anti-corruption strategy implementation, due in December. He added that this initiative would be repeated also during 2006. Ms. DE VITS emphasised Mr. GANEV's words about the importance of implementation and said that focus needed to be put on enforcement and reflection on what is a reasonable transitional period. She stressed that training of police and judges was important and asked the Bulgarian representatives about their view on training of customs officials. Ms. Maya MANOLOVA commented that although great progress has been made and recommendations from the Commission have been implemented there was still a need for further amendments within a number of areas. She called for more operational cooperation between the police and the Government and improved administrative services. Mrs. GUY-QUINT referred back to Ms. DE VITS intervention on implementation and said the possible discrepancy between changes on paper and changes in reality was a very important issue to stress. How do you change attitudes within a society? In her opinion enforcement of new laws into practice was the main challenge for accession. 3 Mr. GANEV said everyday represented a step forward in changing people's attitudes and that the Bulgarian authorities in different ways sought to help people become accustomed with the new laws. He pointed out, in regards to Ms. DE VITS question, that training police and customs officers was a very important aspect of changing attitudes within the society. Ms. Meglena KUNEVA added that the incentives for reforms came from the magistrates themselves. Especially the young magistrates needed encouragement to stay in politics. She encouraged the members of the EP Delegation to ask for a meeting with young magistrates during
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