Written by Lucienne Attard (The Directorate-General for the Presidency),
Bulgaria will hold the EU Council Presidency from January to June 2018. Its Presidency is part of the Trio Presidency composed of Estonia, Bulgaria and Austria. This will be the first time Bulgaria has held the rotating presidency since it joined the EU in 2007.
Bulgaria is a parliamentary representative democratic republic, with a prime minister as head of government and a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the government as well as the national assembly. The Bulgarian unicameral parliament, the National Assembly or ‘Narodno Sabranie’, consists of 240 deputies, who are elected for 4-year terms by popular vote.
The current Prime Minister, Mr Boyko Borisov, has held office since 4 May 2017, while the President is H.E. Mr Rumen Radev, who has held office since 22 January 2017.
Political priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency
This note looks at the Bulgarian Presidency priorities, with those dossiers which figure in the Joint Declaration agreed to by the three institutions as priorities for 2017 marked with an asterisk (*). It is to be noted that a new Joint Declaration is being prepared and will be negotiated by the three Presidents in early December 2017. It is likely that the new Joint Declaration will cover January 2018-May 2019, to coincide with the legislative cycle of the European Parliament.
Taking into account the need for active dialogue with EU citizens, Bulgaria will strive to achieve progress in the field of security, employment, sustainable growth and ensuring a stronger EU presence on the world stage. In particular, it tasks itself with focusing on youth questions and security issues as horizontal priorities.
The Bulgarian government has announced three broad messages for its programme: Consensus, Competitiveness and Cohesion.
Read the complete briefing on ‘Priority dossiers under the Bulgarian EU Council Presidency‘ in PDF.
The Directorate-General for the Presidency (DG Presidency) plays a key role throughout each parliamentary procedure, from its launch until its conclusion through the adoption of an EP resolution or legislative act, in particular in ensuring the smooth running of the plenary sessions. The staff of the DG play a key coordination role across the different services of the Parliament, and support Members in a wide range of activities. The Interinstitutional Relations Unit within DG Presidency, amongst other tasks, prepares a broad range documents concerned with strategic programming, such as on activities of the Commission and the Council.
