Representatives of MGERB Sofia took part in training on campaign management, organized by IRI

23/11/2010

From 18 to 22 November was held a training organized by the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the Leadership Institute for Central and Eastern Europe (LICEE), in Pristina, Kosovo. Important forum brought together young activists from the center-right political space, there were representatives from youth organizations of political parties in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Bulgaria was represented by Vladimir Vanchev and Mitja Atanasov MGERB of Sofia.

Lecturers at the seminar were: Mr. Balint Portsalmi - Executive Vice-President of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, Mr. Ronald Ryudl - Austrian People's Party and Mr. Meyus van der Poel - Consultant, Foundation Eduardo Frei, former campaign manager , Christian-democratic appeal, the Netherlands. As a special lecturer at the seminar was Mr. Jan Erik Surotchak, Resident Director of the Regional Programme of the International Republican Institute in Europe.

Bulgaria has been actively represented at the seminar by MGERB, taking active part in all simulation games, questions and answers, and preparing and performing a statistical presentation on the orientation of the voters in our country. So, they received universal praise from all participants in the seminar.

Monika Panayotova presented the role of the National parliament in the absorption of EU funds

18/11/2010

Within the international conference on the topic: "Utilisation of EU funds: national priorities, the experience of Spain," Ms Monika Panayotova - Chairwoman of the Committee on European Affairs and oversight of the EU funds in the 41 th National Assembly presented the role of the National Assembly in the process management and monitoring of EU funds. International Conference was held in Sofia under the patronage and participation of Tomislav Donchev - Minister for management of EU funds and Hon. Jorge Fuentes - Ambassador of Spain in Bulgaria.

Ms. Panayotova emphasized on the importance and role of the Committee led by her in the absorption of EU funds - to exercise effective control over the overall management of EU funds in Bulgaria and act as guarantor for quality regulation in this area. Given the importance of European funding for the Bulgarian economy and the development of the country in the 41 th National Assembly of Bulgaria for the first time this topic is discussed within the Parliamentary Committee. Committee on European Affairs and oversight of the EU funds monitor the implementation of 21 programs and instruments financed by European funds.

Parliamentary control which the Committee exercises includes regular hearings with representatives of the executive power responsible for programs financed by EU funds, preparation of annual and interim reports on the absorption of EU funds, making recommendations to the executive to implement an integrated approach in program management, seeking synergy of performance and a clear prioritization of objectives in building the national vision for “Bulgaria 2020” in the context of “Europe 2020” Strategy. An early warning mechanism for weaknesses and problem areas in the management of EU funds, created by the Committee, is an integral part of constructive communication with the executive.

Ms. Panayotova noted that the Committee shares the desire of the executive branch to better regulate the process of management of EU funds. In this regard the Committee carried out a detailed analysis of the practice of Member States in the field of normative regulation of EU funds, which showed a different approach to regulating the matter in different countries - from its codification in a special law; its aggregation into a single regulation act; the lack of specific rules, and instead applying a series of procedural manuals and instructions by the Managing Authorities in the various operational programs.

In the context of better regulation, Ms. Panayotova noted that in preparation for the next programming period, a challenge for Bulgaria will be the creation of a maximally effective model for the Bulgarian conditions, without additional bureaucracy and to help beneficiaries. To achieve this goal needs to be applied approach leading to the unification of the regulatory framework for the management of European funds with a clear structure for management of programs, available and transparent rules and procedures as well as balance of rights and obligations between the administration and beneficiaries leading to less bureaucracy. In conclusion, Ms. Panayotova stressed that the achievement of the priorities of the Committee will be implemented in close cooperation and continuous dialogue with partners from the executive, NGOs, business and academic community.

In the second part of the conference experts on European funds from leading Spanish consulting companies shared their experiences and best practices in managing EU funds in Spain.

MGERB participated in a discussion about electronic voting

09/11/2010

On November 8 at the Red House in Sofia was held a discussion on "E-voting' as part of the project "E-citizenship ". Moderator of the debate was Anna Krasteva, director of the project.

The meeting was attended by representatives from youth organizations of MGERB and DSB, lecturers from the NBU, representatives of non-governmental organization “Vote Without Borders”, representatives of "The Other Bulgaria", students, bloggers and citizens. As representatives of MGERB the discussion was attended by Petar Tonkov from Plovdiv and Mitya Atanasov and Botyo Botev from Sofia.

All participants agreed on the idea that there should have an electronic voting, but it needed to be carefully created a voting system so that no manipulation of votes was possible and vote buying would not be facilitated. Although the reasons that this kind of vote was secure enough, since the integrity of votes shall be ensured through various security methods, participants received no call electronic voting to fully implement immediately, but the idea to conduct a pilot project that would include predominantly Bulgarians abroad, where voting was difficult and young mobile people from the big cities of Bulgaria. Discussion ended with the summary that the majority of the attendees and participants in the discussion supported the idea of the government to conduct an experimental electronic voting, the results of which however should be carefully analyzed.

"Young talk about Europe" campaign started

03/11/2011

On 2.11.2010 members of MGERB-Sofia launched the first phase of the project 'Young speak for Europe'. The initiative is under the patronage of Dr. Andrey Kovachev - Head of the Bulgarian delegation, and MEP from the EPP in the European Parliament and is implemented in cooperation with the Foundation 'Paideia'.

The project aims in the form of debate to be discussed topics related to European identity, community citizenship and place of Bulgaria. The theme is particularly important at a time when after the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union is changing.
The target group includes students from upper grades of ten metropolitan schools, who during the first stage participate with two teams in a debate, as the winning team will take part and represent its school in the second round, which will be held between the different schools.

The initiative was launched in 133th Secondary school ‘A.S. Pushkin ', where students with special desire and good preparation debated the topics: "Do you feel European?" and "What does it mean for you European citizenship?”.

Later the debate in 91 German Language School was attended personally by Dr. Andrey Kovachev - a graduate of the high school who presented to the students the activities of the European Parliament and how a policy that is drawn in Brussels has a direct impact here. Students raised many questions to him related to his activities as an MEP and Chairman of the Bulgarian delegation of the EPP. Young people from the German School debated the topic of diversity and unity of the Community. This and next week's debates will be held in other schools in the capital.