site.btaMinister Petkova Takes Part in Economic and Financial Affairs Council Meeting in Luxembourg

Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova represented Bulgaria at the regular meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union (ECOFIN), which took place in Luxembourg, her Ministry reported Friday. During the meeting, EU ministers of economy and finance discussed legislative proposals for a Council directive on the structure and rates of excise duty on tobacco and tobacco-related products, a Council decision on the EU's system of own resources and repealing Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053, as well as current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.

Bulgaria welcomed the proposal to include new products within the scope of the  Directive on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco. Petkova expressed concerns about the proposed minimum excise rates for traditional tobacco products, the inclusion of raw tobacco in the Excise Movement and Control Systems, and the indexation of rates over a certain period. The Finance Minister stressed that Bulgaria is an external border of the EU, which is why the risk of an increase in the illegal trade in tobacco products when excise duty levels are raised is high.

ECOFIN also discussed the European Commission's proposal for new own resources in the EU budget. Bulgaria is open to discussing and introducing new types of own resources that would generate additional revenue for the EU budget and help ease the pressure on national budgets, businesses, and citizens. It is important that each own resource complies with the fundamental principles of fairness, transparency, predictability, simplicity, and proportional administrative burden. During the meeting, it was emphasized that responsibility to EU citizens requires eliminating even the slightest risk of imposing a financial burden that is disproportionately high in relation to the economic development and prosperity of a given Member State.