Bulgarian Business will Be Comfortable in Europe

Will we be making a better business after we enter the EU? Will it be easier for us to breathe there? Will the legal system change for the better? These and many more questions did European Affairs Minister Meglena Kouneva have to answer at the business luncheon on Wednesday, entitled ‘Bulgaria in the EU: Running the Last Mile'.

It was for the first time since the signing of Bulgaria's EU Accession Treaty that one of the four signers have met with representatives of the business.

"All of us who do fair, honest and successful business in Bulgaria, have been waiting for this moment for 15 years. We want to use our EU entry to enhance our positions, make better profits, and behave more responsibly and transparently on the market. At the end of the day that would benefit all Bulgarians. If our business goes well, everything else will too," said BBLF Chairman Maxim Behar.

The luncheon was attended by the ambassadors of 13 EU member-states, UNDP Resident Representative in Bulgaria Neil Buhne, Economy Deputy Minister Dimiter Ivanovski and European integration experts from five ministries.

"There's hardly anyone more important than Bulgarian business to be informed with accuracy about what is there for Bulgaria after its EU entry," said Minister Kouneva. "I can guarantee you will feel much more comfortable in Europe, but you need to know everything about EU Market Conditions. Information is there for all companies interested, as are the time and efforts of all EU-integration experts in the different ministries. You must understand though, that business needs to seek that information too."

"One of the main things to be changed even before our entry into the EU is the communication between the State Administration and business, especially when it comes to small and medium enterprises," said Radoslav Karaboikov, Evrokamion CEO. "Right now we speak in two different languages - my colleagues and I speak a simple, human, understandable and practical language, while the administration is eloquent in the complex, intelligent and fully unintelligible expression. Dialogue between us must turn more pragmatic!"