November 2, 2010



National Assembly President Tsetska Tsacheva met on November 2, 2010 with the President of the European Economic and Social Committee Staffan Nilsson, who is on a visit to Bulgaria. The President of the Bulgarian Economic and Social Council Prof.Lalko Dulevski took part in the talks.

The Speaker of Parliament stressed that the legislature of the Republic of Bulgaria maintains an active interaction and fruitful partnership with the Bulgarian Economic and Social Council. She emphasized that in Bulgaria there is consensus and adamant political will and support for development of the social dialogue, which is an integral part of the European social model, the values of which Bulgaria fully shares.

“Our cooperation with Bulgaria goes back to before your country's accession to the European Union and today the Bulgarian Economic and Social Council is one of the most active in the organization”, said Staffan Nilsson. He highlighted the need for a clear vision regarding the sustainable development of Europe and said the latter is at the focus of the European Economic and Social Committee's work program for the upcoming term. He introduced the Bulgarian chair of parliament to the main priorities of the European Economic and Social Committee in the coming years i.e. dialogue and management, sustainability and growth, solidarity and development.

At the meeting, a wide range of topics were discussed including unemployment, labor market, policies to overcome the effects of the economic and financial crisis in Bulgaria. The parties reached the opinion that the crisis creates problems and challenges, but also uncovers new opportunities and solutions. As a successful example in this respect they mentioned the signed yesterday national agreement between the Prime Minister of Bulgaria with the trade unions and the employers’ organizations, giving way to a new strategy for financial stabilization of the State Social Security system and the improvement of pension legislation.