First meeting of the Joint Governance Council: The urgent need for a budget tops the agenda

The Council for Joint Governance on January 21 held its first meeting, making initial decisions and facing the first challenges that the ruling coalition partners need to address. High on the agenda is the urgent need for a regular state budget.

Finance Minister, Temenuzhka Petkova, presented worrying data about the state of the national budget today. As a result, the coalition partners will meet again next week to discuss the country's finances. At the handover of power from the caretaker government to the new one, it became clear that the draft budget would be reshaped according to the policies of the new government.

Speaking from Strasbourg, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov emphasised the importance of the budget.

"One of the primary goals of Bulgarian policy in the coming months will be the protection of a budget that guarantees stable public finances, enabling the continuation of policies, such as the effective absorption of funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and speeding up related projects. This also includes discussions about energy security and connectivity because all upcoming social measures depend on having stable public finances," Zhelyazkov stated.

Zhelyazkov assured that ensuring the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy through swift legislative action is a priority for the government. This will be reflected in both the legislative and governance programmes.

"In a month, we will we will have both a state budget bill and a programme submitted. If we receive the necessary trust, we will work to convince our European partners of Bulgaria's ability to manage its public finances effectively, demonstrating that we are not a problem but an asset to the Eurozone," the Prime Minister added.

The partners in the government have elected Kostadin Angelov from GERB-UDF as rotating chairman of the Council. He will lead it for three months.

Deputy Prime Minister, Tomislav Donchev, was also present at today's meeting and he has been appointed to lead the work on the preparation of the legislative and governance programmes.

The partners have also reached a smooth agreement on the parliamentary committees so that they can get to work and start moving forward the laws. The committee line-ups are expected to be seen in plenary as early as tomorrow.

Vice President Iliana Iotova expressed hope that the election of a regular cabinet signals the end of the political crisis.

"My stance has always been in favour of a strong political cabinet, not a neutral expert one, so it's clear who bears responsibility and takes on the complexity of the upcoming decisions. What does success depend on? It depends on focusing on solving the immediate problems. I’m talking about prices, water, electricity, and, of course, having the courage to implement serious long-term reforms, which requires a solid majority. If they do that, they will be a successful cabinet," Iotova said.

She noted that it is encouraging that while the conversation previously centered on who the bigger opposition was, today the focus is on governance.