Committee on European Affairs and Control of EU Funds
The Committee on European Affairs and Control of EU Funds is one of the 17 standing committees in the 41st National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria .
tasks
The committee is tasked with examining the effective implementation of EU law in Bulgarian legislation, drafting EU legislation and exercising political control over the spending of funds from European funds and programs. The work of the committee enables the Bulgarian National Assembly to participate in political dialogue with the European institutions on important issues on the European agenda and to exercise its new powers under the Lisbon Treaty . The work of the Committee on European Affairs and Control of EU Funds is carried out in accordance with Art. 18, Para. 2, point 17 and Art. 23, Para. 1 of the Organizational and Internal Regulations of the Bulgarian National Assembly. Regular meetings of the committee are held every Wednesday at the National Assembly, Alexander I Square in Sofia, Bulgaria. In order to ensure full transparency, the meetings of the Commission are open and news, complete transcripts of the meetings, reports of the hearings and opinions on the draft bills discussed are regularly published on its website.
In addition to the activities related to the defined parliamentary functions and tasks, the committee endeavors to bring the current issues from the European agenda closer to the citizens. This is reflected in the various initiatives taken, such as B. the creation of a European area in the National Assembly, the start of the discussion forum "European discussions in Parliament" , the formation of a "Council for public consultation", which supports the work of the committee, as well as the participation of the members of the commission in seminars and discussion rounds and conferences.
history
The Committee for European Affairs and Control of EU Funds was established with the organizational and procedural rules of the 38th Bulgarian National Assembly as a specialized parliamentary structure Council for European Affairs in the negotiations on Bulgaria's accession to the European Union. It consisted of a chairman, a deputy chairman, three MPs from each parliamentary group, and members of the Presidium of the Joint Parliamentary Committee “Bulgaria - European Union”. The chairman of the Council for European Affairs was the chairman of the National Assembly Yordan Sokolov.
During the mandate of the 39th National Assembly, the committee was established under the name Committee for European Integration. During this period his main functions were connected with the formation and implementation of the preparation for the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union . The main task was to assess the compatibility of the legislative proposals with European law, which the government supported in implementing the not inconsiderable extent of the acquis communautaire . Daniel Valchev was elected chairman of the committee. During the 40th National Assembly, after Bulgaria's accession to the European Union on January 1, 2007, the focus of the work of the committee, which has since been renamed the Committee for European Affairs, was shifted towards the participation of Bulgaria in decision-making processes at European level. During this period, the chairmen of the committee were Atanas Paparizov (August 24, 2005 to May 20, 2007) and Mladen Chervenyakov (September 28, 2007 to June 25, 2009). With the organizational and internal rules of procedure of the 41st National Assembly, from 2009 the committee will have the additional function of controlling the administration of funds and programs of the European Union in Bulgaria. It will be renamed the Committee on European Affairs and Control of EU Funds. Its first chairman became Svetlin Tanchev, who was replaced by Monika Panayotova in July 2010 - both are members of the political party GERB.
Composition of the committee
The committee consists of 18 MPs and a secretariat made up of a team of five experts and interns from universities in Germany and abroad.
Functions
The functions of the committee are divided into the following main areas:
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Parliamentary oversight and control of EU affairs , including:
- Control of the implementation of EU legislation;
- Control of subsidiarity and proportionality under the Lisbon Treaty - with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009, the role of the Bulgarian Parliament in the entire decision-making process at EU level will be changed and strengthened by taking the opportunity to become more actively involved in the so the so-called "early warning system" and to express objections to certain European legislative proposals if these contradict the principle of subsidiarity. In this context, the National Assembly has started the procedure for dealing with EU drafts in order to carry out the subsidiarity controls within the 8-week deadline set by the Lisbon Treaty.
- Political dialogue with the European institutions.
- Parliamentary oversight and control over the use of funds from EU funds and programs through regular hearings of representatives of the executive power who are responsible for the management of the various EU programs and financial instruments. Based on the hearings carried out, the committee prepares regular reports (interim and annual reports) for the management of EU funds in Bulgaria;
- Continuous dialogue with civil society structures in planning and participation in politics through the public consultation council set up by the committee;
- Inter-parliamentary cooperation - Participation in the Conference of the Committees on the Affairs of the European Union of the Member States and the Candidate Countries, Conférence des Organes Spécialisés dans les Affaires Communautaires (COSAC), as well as participation in inter-parliamentary meetings at bilateral and multilateral level.
Annual work program of the National Assembly on EU issues
The Committee's powers in relation to EU affairs are detailed in Chapter 10 of the Rules of Procedure for the Organization and Procedure of the National Assembly - “Parliamentary Oversight and Control over European Union Affairs”, with the main points in the National Assembly's annual work program on the EU affairs are set out.
After the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the National Assembly implemented an innovative approach to developing the annual work program on EU affairs with the involvement of all stakeholders (European Commission, European Parliament, European Council , National Assembly and Council of Ministers). The annual work program of the Bulgarian National Assembly is based on the main priorities of the work program of the European Commission, as well as the priorities of the trio of presidencies of the EU and thereby sets an additional strategic focus in the work of the National Assembly on important national and European issues. The guiding principle in the design of the annual work program is to prioritize the inclusion of projects from the so-called new files or files, over which the National Assembly can exercise control in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity. The National Assembly's annual work program becomes a strategic document through which the Bulgarian Parliament participates in the legislative process at EU level.
Following this new approach, the National Assembly's annual work programs for 2011 and 2012 have been drawn up entirely in line with the EC work program and with broad participation from EC leaders. When preparing the National Assembly's annual work program for 2011, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva , presented the main priorities of the EC work program for 2011 to the Bulgarian people's representatives on the initiative of the Committee. This tradition continued in the preparation of the National Assembly's annual work program for 2012, with EC Vice-President and Commissioner for Interinstitutional Relations and Administration Maroš Šefčovič familiarizing the Bulgarian representatives with the priorities of the EC work program for 2012.
Public Consultation Council to the Committee
The Council for Public Advice was set up in March 2010 on the basis of Article 13 of the Regulations on the Organization and Operation of the Committee on European Affairs and Control of EU Funds as a supporting advisory body. The aim of this council is to consult the committee in the exercise of its functions and in relation to the exercise of parliamentary oversight and control of EU affairs and the use of funds from EU funds and programs. More than 60 organizations are members of the council: employers, trade unions , non-governmental organizations (NGO), scientific institutes, etc. a. In this form, the Council provides valuable support to the Committee on the one hand and creates the basis for the realization of a constructive dialogue between representatives of civil society, the legislature and the executive on the other. The regulations governing the organization and activities are decisive for the work of the council. In line with efforts to improve the broad spectrum of informed civil society on the subject of Bulgaria's EU membership, the Council for Public Consultation holds meetings on current issues on the European agenda - Europe 2020 - Strategy for smart, sustainable and integrated growth, European Semester, the Single European Act (EEA), the future of cohesion policy 2014-2020, youth unemployment and the prospects for job creation for young people.
Europe - Talks in Parliament
Guided by the idea of making Europe - issues more understandable and closer to the citizens, the initiative "European talks in Parliament" - a forum that is taking shape - started in 2011 on the initiative of the committee and under the patronage of the chairman of the National Assembly, Ms. Tsetska Tsacheva dedicated to ensuring publicity and encouraging discussion of the most emblematic events and processes on the European agenda. The Committee is making an effort to deepen the active and direct dialogue with civil society, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and academic circles on topical and strategic issues relating to European development through the public debates under this initiative. The roundtables will be held in the plenary hall of the National Assembly and will be broadcast online and in real time on the Parliament 's WEB site.
The first public debate in a series of discussions on the topic of “European Talks in Parliament” was held on December 19, 2011 and was devoted to the topic “Two years after Lisbon - where to, Europe?”. The debate marked the second anniversary of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. Lecturers and panelists such as Jean-Dominique Giuliani - President of the Robert Schumann Foundation and Elmar Brok, member of the EP and board member of the EPP were outstanding.
The second public debate took place on March 12, 2012 and was devoted to the topic “Europe of solidarity and / or Europe of egoism?”. Special guests at the event are Kristalina Georgieva EU - Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Daniel Gros - Director of the Center for European Political Research, Alexander Andreev - Editor-in-Chief of the Bulgarian editorial office of the radio station “ Deutsche Welle ”.
Web links
- Summary of the Annual report on the absorption of European funds in the Republic of Bulgaria for year 2011 , Reports of the Rotary Presidency of the Council of Europe (February 8, 2012) (PDF file)