EU would benefit from maximum number of countries joining euro – Bulgarian Parliament Speaker
The European Union will benefit from the accession of a maximum number of member states to the euro, Bulgarian National Assembly SpeakerTsvetka Karayancheva said on February 20.
Karayancheva, whose country currently holds the rotating Presidency of the EU, was speaking at the Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in Brussels.
Karayancheva and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani opened and co-chaired the plenary session on “Strengthening Sustainability and Stabilization of Economic and Monetary Union”. The forum is the third event of the calendar of the Parliamentary Dimension of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU and first in the European Parliament.
“What unites us today is the joint efforts of the EU parliaments to contribute to the financial stability and sustainable growth of the EU’s economy,” she said.
Karayancheva said that she was confident that no one wanted a multi-speed Europe or of putting some EU member states into formats that were very restrictive for others.
One of the priorities of the European Union as a whole, as well as the main issues for the Bulgarian presidency, is the reduction of economic and social disparities between and within the member states, she said.
The debate on the future of the EU is highlighted by the Bulgarian Presidency, and an important part of this debate is the issue of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027; the deepening of the integration in the euro area and the strategic vision for the EU’s economic governance, Karayancheva said.
During its rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, Bulgaria is working and will work for the further integration of the Economic and Monetary Union, she said.
This process goes hand in hand with the democratic accountability of the euro zone institutions to the legitimate elected representatives of the parliaments of the Union, Karayancheva said.
She said that the key issues for both institutions and citizens are the future of EU finances after the United Kingdom leaves the bloc in 2019.
Karayancheva welcomed the efforts of both the Bulgarian Presidency and the member states as well as the European institutions, to make progress on reducing risks in the banking sector.
