INTERVIEW WITH MARTIN CALLANAN - CHAIR OF THE EUROPEAN CONSERVATIVES AND REFORMISTS GROUP AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

BNT: Mr. Callanan, what are your main messages during the new campaign?

Martin Callanan: Our main message will be that we want Europe doing less, but doing it more efficiently. We want to improve the balance of power, we want less decisions made in the capital Brussels and more decisions made in Sofia, or Paris, or London, the national state capitals.

BNT: Which are your really main priorities?

Martin Callanan: Aside from the ones I just mentioned about less power to Brussels and more power to member states we also want to improve competitiveness of the European economy. We need to reduce the red tape in bureaucracy coming out of Brussels and help to free up business and industry to create more jobs. We also support the fight against corruption and I’m particularly impressed with the Clean Hands campaign here in Bulgaria.

BNT: What is the role of the people? Are you going to work in the European Parliament for improving of the living standard of the people?

Martin Callanan: Of course we are in favour of improving living standards for all citizens of Europe, but most of those decisions are matters really for member-states, for the Bulgarian government, for the British government etc. Europe should only concentrate on those pan-European issues that have to be decided at a European level. Detailed questions about living standards etc. are really the responsibility of the Bulgarian government.

BNT: What is your position? Is it for more or less Europe and why?

Martin Callanan: We are for less Europe. We think that the powers of Europe to interfere in the minutiae of decisions in member states has grown too big and we think a rebalancing of the power is necessary so that more control is exercised by individual member states and less by faceless bureaucrats in Brussels.