site.btaLess-Developed EU Countries Should Have Real Access to Competitiveness Fund, Prime Minister Urges at Meeting with EU Ambassadors

Less-developed EU member states should have genuine access to the resources of the European Competitiveness Fund in order to ensure equal treatment and industrial cohesion, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said at a meeting with the group of ambassadors of EU member states and representatives of the European Commission, quoted by the government information service.

The meeting was hosted by the Ambassador of Ireland, Catherine Bannon, whose country assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU at the beginning of July.

During the meeting, current issues on the EU agenda were discussed, including the Union’s focus on competitiveness, security, and infrastructure connectivity.

Radev paid particular attention to the discussions on the adoption of the EU’s new Multiannual Financial Framework. He expressed support for the new focus of European policies but stressed that this should not come at the expense of fundamental policies such as cohesion policy and the Common Agricultural Policy.

According to him, cohesion policy should become more actively involved in areas such as science, education, and research and development.

Prime Minister Rumen Radev wished Ireland success in implementing the priorities it has set out during its presidency of the Council of the EU through the end of the current year.