Traditional meeting of the EU club at BCCI on the occasion of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU

The traditional meeting of the EU club, organized by the Enterprise Europe Network at BCCI, was held at the premises of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event was dedicated to the end of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and its assumption by the Republic of Slovenia. The moderator of the event was Prof. Ingrid Shikova, President of the EU club at BCCI. The meeting was attended by representatives of diplomatic missions, the business community, NGOs, journalists and others.

The meeting of the EU club was officially opened by the BCCI’s Secretary General Vasil Todorov, who stressed the significant efforts and results of the current Presidency of Portugal in the socio-economic recovery of Europe, following the Covid pandemic.

In his presentation, Birgit Weidel, a representative of the European Commission's Directorate-General “Growth” (DG GROW), presented the impacts of the pandemic on the European economy, as well as the use of various levers such as digitalization, coherent programs and a common European strategy to accelerate the exit from the economic crisis. The flexibility of the small and medium-sized enterprises in the implementation of measures to address the challenges of the crisis was also emphasized: partial restructuring of the production, search for new partners and markets, innovative solutions, etc.

The Ambassador of Portugal in Sofia H.E. Ana Maria Ribeiro da Silva presented in a video message the achievements of Portugal during its Presidency. The main focus was on the goals set out in the Declaration on the Social Dimension of the European Economy signed by the European leaders - job creation, poverty reduction, preservation of measures to support the Covid pandemic and promotion of the social dialogue.

The Ambassador of Slovenia to Sofia H.E. Anzej Franges outlined in his speech the main priorities and directions of the Slovenian Presidency for the next six months of the present year.

Ambassador Franges shared with the participants of the meeting details of the Programme for further health and socio-economic recovery of the EU with a focus on the green and circular economy, digital transformation, etc., based on the good cooperation of the three main institutions: the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. The topic of the neighborhood policy within the EU and the future enlargement of the Union through the inclusion of the Western Balkans was reviewed, taking into account the active cooperation of Bulgaria.

In his presentation, Georgi Stoev, Chairman of the Eurochambres Trade and Investment Committee and a member of the BCCI Board, drew the participants' attention to the current socio-economic issues that United Europe faces and the necessary opportunities to solve them within the European programmes such as Horizon Europe with a funding of 95.5 billion euros.

For more information about the EU club, please follow the link: https://www.bcci.bg/euclub/index