In Bulgaria we do not have a clearly expressed opinion on European policies at any level parliament, nor public, and I would be very happy to hear the appointed Bulgarian commissioner in the parliament.
This is what he told "Focus“ the first Bulgarian European Commissioner, former deputy prime minister and chief negotiator Meglena Kuneva.
According to her, in our country, European topics are being pushed out and passed on an almost negative plane, and communication is extremely important and it must be continuous. In order to request a portfolio at the European Commission, one must have an idea why the national commissioner would be suitable for it and what the country's national policy is on this matter. "Whatever portfolio Bulgaria wants, there must be some internal consultation around this European policy: What do we understand by European policy in the direction in which we want to work in order to have a portfolio, i.e. department, and how it will affect the country,“ she explained and stated that such conversations have not been held in our country for a long time, which creates the difficulty in choosing a department.
That is why the hearing of the candidates in the National Assembly is a good step forward, she believes, but it is risky for the commissioner to be voted in the parliament in the absence of a procedure. Meglena Kuneva considers PP-DB's request to transfer the powers for the election of the European Commissioner from the government to the National Assembly unconvincing, since there is already such a precedent with the withdrawal of Kristalina Georgieva and the candidacy of Maria Gabriel, and besides, there is no time until the end of September month, and the department of our new European Commissioner is not known.
The European Union is currently in a very difficult phase and Meglena Kuneva emphasized that it is very important that the names nominated by the parties for candidates for Bulgarian European Commissioner have not only European, but also national political experience. According to her, the parties really tried to do their best to put forward very serious candidates: GERB candidate Ekaterina Zaharieva, ITN with its nomination of Dr. Velislava Petrova, and BSP is considering whether to propose the candidacy of Sergey Stanishev . "These are people who have already participated in the formats of the European institutions and they have the experience of the various formats of the Council of Europe, the European councils, which is very important. These are very good applications,” Meglena Kuneva is categorical.