23.01.2012

Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov will take part in the ECOFIN meeting and in the EU Member States intergovernmental meeting on the proposed International Agreement on a Reinforced Economic Union.

In a letter to his non-eurozone colleagues Minister Djankov expressed the principle position of our country in support of strict fiscal discipline, participation of non-eurozone countries in the discussions on the proposed Agreement on a level playing field conditions, as well as against the extension of the document\'s scope to include matters outside reinforced fiscal management.

Bulgaria\'s proposals have to a large extent been reflected in the last draft of the document - the reference to the Euro+ Pact and the provisions on common economic policy have been deleted. An option for non-eurozone countries to participate in the high level Eurogroup meetings on topics within the scope of the Agreement has been foreseen. Also proposed is to introduce financial sanctions for Member States that do not comply with the basic provisions on strengthened fiscal and budget discipline.

In Brussels Minister Djankov will have bilateral meetings with Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn and Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget Janusz Lewandowski.