GUIDELINES

FOR THE ACTIVITY OF THE BULGARIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (BCCI)
in the period 2019 - 2023

WE – THE MEMBERS OF BCCI – entrepreneurs, regional chambers of commerce and industry, sectorial organizations and other non-governmental organizations, represented at the 34th General Assembly of BCCI, held on 4 June 2019, in execution of the powers pursuant to Art. 23, para 1, item 2 of BCCI's Statutes,

HEREBY DECLARE OUR INTENTION TO ACHIEVE THE FOLLOWING GOALS:

• more favourable environment for the Bulgarian entrepreneurship, for its sustainable and independent development;
• raising the competitiveness of the manufactures goods and the provided services by Bulgarian entrepreneurs;
• developing the existing forms of flexible employment (home work, telework, hiring through temporary employment agencies, short-term seasonal work, part-time work, etc.) and stimulating youth employment, employment related to increasing the education, qualification and re-qualification, opening of high-tech and highly productive jobs, etc.;
• regulating migration and improving the conditions for import of deficit workforce for the country;
• stable development of the Bulgarian economy;
• stimulating the investment activity, increasing foreign investment in the Republic of Bulgaria

AND FOR THIS PURPOSE UNITE OUR EFFORTS AT BCCI TO ACHIEVE RESULTS IN THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS:

1. I. MACROECONOMIC STABILITY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA, through:
   1. Maintaining the currency board until the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Eurozone;
   2. Preserving the tax rates, including the proportionate taxation (the so-called “flat tax”);
   3. Restricting the redistribution of funds through the state budget up to 35% of GDP, including through:
      • Measures aimed at efficiency of public expenditures;
      • Regulating the determination of all state fees by adopting a methodology based on a cost-covering principle;
      • Extensive introduction of e-services, accompanied by a decrease of the number of the public officials;
      • Observing the rule the collected fees for a specific administrative service to be used to improve its quality, availability, and to reduce the term for its provision;  
      • Linking the increased budgetary funding of unreformed sectors (including of state-owned enterprises) with the achievement/the degree of achievement of the pre-set goals/reforms;
      • Discontinuing the practice of crediting/financing business activities in unreformed state-owned enterprises;
      • Discontinuing state activities that are non-public in nature and are offered on the market by private entities, as the opposite is a form of unfair competition;
      • Providing sectorial organizations with the administration of lighter regulatory regimes (registrations) by the state authorities, on the basis of a competition and in compliance with the legally established criteria – adopting a Law on Sectorial Organizations.
   4. Taking serious measures for mass electronization of activities and services (i.e. implementation of “e-Government")


2. IMPROVEMENT OF THE CONDITIONS FOR ECONOMIC ACTIVITY,through the following measures:
   1. Regulatory changes related to the state regulation of the prices of monopoly companies, aimed at introducing permanent monitoring of::
      • the reasonableness of the expenditures of the companies;
      • compliance with their investment commitments;
      • the need to reduce the regulated prices when there is a decrease of the prices of the raw materials and materials purchased by them (on the Bulgarian and international markets);
      • the need to increase the regulated prices, substantiated mainly by the above prerequisites.
   2. Regulatory changes related to the regulatory regimes, aimed at:
      • revoking central regulatory regimes that do not comply with the Act Restricting Administrative Regulation and Administrative Control over Economic Activity;
      • facilitating central regulatory regimes (through standardization of documents and procedures, and their electronization);
      • revoking regulatory regimes aiming to facilitate the state control activities (e.g. the draft-bill for amendment of the Tax Insurance Procedure Code introducing an obligation for the manufacturers and traders to inform the National Revenue Agency of the planned transport of goods no later than seven days before the loading of the vehicle);
      • regulating in the Law on Local Self-governance and Local Administration clear and specific conditions allowing the introduction of local regulatory regimes in compliance with the Act Restricting Administrative Regulation and Administrative Control over Economic Activity;
      • regulating in the Administrative Procedure Code a general presumption for the “Tacit Consent”, if nothing else is stipulated in the special law; wider introduction of the principle of “Tacit Consent” in the special laws;
      • transfer of registration regimes to sectorial organizations on a competitive basis, under pre-announced (regulated) criteria/conditions;
   3. Improving the quality of the administrative services through standardization and electronization of documents and procedures;
   4. Regulatory changes aimed at speeding up bankruptcy proceedings;
   5. Significantly improving the work of the control bodies towards establishing permanent control on the observance of the taxation, customs and social security regimes in view of considerably curbing the grey sector and corruption;
   6. Regulatory changes aimed at increasing the control over the award and performance of public procurements, through:
      • their complete electronization (announcement, application, evaluation, implementation and reporting);
      • expanding the public procurement register with data on performance/non-performance/inaccurate performance of public procurement and commitments within the warranty periods, as well as the due and realized responsibility for non-performance/inaccurate performance;
      • mandatory inclusion in the evaluation committees of representatives of the sectorial organizations from the respective economic activity - in order to increase transparency and civil monitoring in the evaluation and award procedure;
   7. Promoting the negotiation of the minimum wage in collective agreements at the enterprise level, limiting the negotiation of the minimum wage in collective agreements at the sectoral/branch level, in view of the great difference in the economic and financial capacities of enterprises from the same or related industries/branches;
   8. Revoking the principle of statutory setting of the minimum wage for all sectors and branches; the minimum wage to be negotiated and determined on the basis of a tripartite framework agreement drawn up in accordance with the principles of ILO Convention 131;
   9. Revoking the setting of minimum social security thresholds, because this approach has no analogue in any other EU member-state;
   10. Revoking the mandatory provisions of the employer not directly related to the production activity – these obligations should remain a commitment/responsibility of the employer in the area of corporate social responsibility (e.g. those related to the trade unions activity, such as: granting trade union activists with additional leave, creating working conditions for the trade unions, prior coordination with the trade unions regarding the introduction of the part-time employment, withdrawal of the trade unions’ right to visit enterprises and require explanations from the employer, termination of employment contract of a member of the trade union’s management; related to non-production activities of workers and employees, including those related to health and occupational safety conditions (HOSC), such as: financing of social and cultural services for the workers/employees; payment of periodic medical examinations of the workers/employees; drawing-up a programme for carrying out instructions at the workplace in accordance with the health and occupational safety conditions (HOSC); drawing-up programmes for carrying out trainings in the enterprise in accordance with the health and occupational safety conditions (HOSC); carrying out initial instructions in accordance with the HOSC);
   11. Optimization of the tax and social security regime, through:
       • accurate fulfillment of the obligations of the state bodies, the state-owned enterprises, etc. for timely reimbursement of value added tax, for payments under public procurement contracts, for reimbursement by the public authorities of amounts unduly paid to them, and for interest payable, for payment of benefits, etc.;
       • revoking the tax on dividends and reducing by 5% the income tax of sole proprietors;
       • reducing the statutory deadlines for the reimbursement of value added tax (VAT);
       • investments in state and municipal infrastructure related to the implementation of an investment projects to benefit from tax credit under the VAT Act;
       • improving the regime of the so called “joint liability” under Art. 177 of the VAT Act – limiting the assumptions of liability of a taxable person in cases of abuse in the chain of contractual relations;
       • equal distribution (50/50) between employer and worker/employee of the due social security contributions;
       • regulating a personal social security contribution for the public sector employees;
       • revoking the employer’s obligation to pay the worker/employee a compensation for the early days of temporary disability;
   12. Regulatory changes aimed at facilitating the activity of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, through revocation of mandatory obligations related to:
       • adoption of: regulations of internal work discipline and internal rules of health and occupational safety conditions;
       • mandatory conclusion of a contract with the occupational health service – such an employer shall be required to implement simplified standard rules, adopted by the SMEs Promotion Agency and the Labor Inspectorate, and developed jointly with the social partners;
       • separate waste collection;
       • establishing a Labour Conditions Committee or a Labour Conditions Task Force.
   13. Balanced chanelling of funds in the main infrastructure (rail, road, sea, rives and airport) to ensure competitive conditions of activity of the various modes of transport;
   14. Implementation of measures for carrying out the policy “Trust the Bulgarian” aimed at promoting the use of Bulgarian goods and services and increasing consumers’ trust in them;
   15. Further development of the legislative framework related to social enterprises which would stimulate the establishment of social enterprises for varous vulnerable social groups (outside the disabled) and in different spheres (e.g. social enterprises providing simple healthcare services – measuring of blood pressure, measuring of blood glucose, assistance from nurses at home; social enterprises providing training and educational services, and other similar services).
        
3. EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AIMED AT PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF ENTREPRENEURS, through measures for:  
   1. Better functioning of the single market in the field of services through facilitation of the administrative requirements, as well as through access to electronic information on services allowing the entrepreneurs to expand their activity on the European markets;
   2. Equal respect for and approach to the interests of entrepreneurs from the same industry in different member-states, when regulating at European level the conditions for carrying out their activity (e.g. implementation of the Posting of Workers Directive with regard to truck transport in EC’s “Mobility 2” package and the non-implementation of this Directive on bus and coach transport in EC’s “Mobility  1” package);
   3. Equal obligations for manufacturers and traders in the different member-states to sell in other member-states certain types of goods with the same qualitative indicators;
   4. Reducing entrepreneurs’ costs for innovation protection through faster adoption of European patents with unitary effect/Unitary Patent).
       
4. INCREASING THE ABSORPTION OF EU FUNDS’ RESOURCES, through:
   1. Regulating instruments through which the partners can ask questions, make proposals and receive information on the reasons why their opinions have not been adopted;
   2. Facilitating the application process and project reporting, through:
      • reducing the bureaucratic procedures in project reporting by regulated comprehensiveness and singleness of the remarks made by the ruling/contracting bodies;
      • clear criteria and transparency in the selection of assessors of the project proposals.
   3. Increasing the amount of advance payments under grants by searching alternative forms of bank guarantees, especially for SMEs;
   4. Fast prosecution of officials faulty for suspension or detention of EU funding;
   5. Active participation in the implementation of the EC Action Plan “Entrepreneurship 2020”, through:
      • organizing trainings on entrepreneurship in support of starting own business and creating new enterprises;
      • contribution to creating favourable environment for growth and development of the enterprises.
         
5. RESTRUCTURING OF THE ENERGY SECTOR AIMED AT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENERGY SECTOR AND INCREASED ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN VARIOUS SPHERES, through:
   1. Implementation of the third and preparation for implementation of the fourth energy package, Directive 2009/73/EC,  Directive 2009/72/EC, Regulation (EC) No. 715/2009, Regulation (EC) No. 714/2009, Regulation (EC) No. 713/2009;
   2. Better regional energy market by increasing energy connectivity, including through:
      • creating new consumer infrastructure, interconnection with the gas transmission networks of neighbouring countries,
      • developing alternative gas sources and facilities of the enterprises and of the household has supply networks,
      • interconnection between the gas transmission system operators of the Republic of Bulgaria and the neighbouring countries – for the exchange of natural gas by the users of the networks under regulated public conditions guaranteeing equal treatment;
   3. Implementation of cross-border projects for gasification of territories bordering our country, through the implementation of innovative technologies for the transmission of natural gas in a highly compressed and liquefied state;
   4. Improving energy efficiency in industry, including throuth implementation of standards, technologies, systems and solutions for energy management of enterprises and through active cargo management in the free market;
   5. Improving energy efficiency in transport, including through the support of the institutionalization of transport energy, development of measures for fuel and energy saving in transport;
   6. Improving energy efficiency in buildings and facilities, including through the development of professional facility management, financing of contracts for energy execution, implementation of intelligent systems and networks;
   7. Improving energy efficiency in households, including by supporting the policy aiming to overcome energy poverty.
       
6. SUPPORTING THE IMPLEMENTATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITALISATION OF THE ECONOMY, through measures aimed at:
   1. Promoting the digitalisation of the economy – creating opportunities for implementation of digital technologies, modernisation of processes and business models;
   2. Priority actions for integration of Industry 4.0 in the Bulgarian economy;
   3. Assistance for enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises online through an expanded, interconnected digital infrastructure.
       
7. DEVELOPMENT OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, through INCENTIVES, aimed at:
   1. Optimized use of resources and increasing their re-use for the purpose of integrating a circular economy into industry;
   2. Limiting the dependence on resources and reducing the amount of waste;
   3. Reducing the use of disposable plastic products;
   4. Introducting a requirement for a minimum percentage of “green public procurement
       
8. IMPROVEMENT OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN VIEW OF IMPROVING THE OPPORTUNITIES OF THE LABOUR MARKET, through:
   1. Adopting measures guaranteeing that education, vocational training and qualifications are more closely linked to the needs of entrepreneurship, aimed at:
      • developing and maintaining a system forecasting (in the short, medium and long term) the needs of entrepreneurship of certain professions, skills, competences, including in promising and key sectors of industry;
      • expanding the opportunities for inclusion of practicing professionals at all levels of education and training;
      • prioritising – when determining the state funding of specialties in the field of higher education – of the technical specialties and the bachelor's and master's programmes in basic natural sciences, which are crucial for the development of the economy;
      • establishing a mechanism that guarantees the correspondence between the plan of admission in the vocational high schools and universities with the needs of entrepreneurship;
      • real integration of the discipline "entrepreneurship" into the curricula at all levels of education;
      • close collaboration with the academic circles to predict the professions and qualifications of the future;
   2. Establishing a subsectoral council for tripartite cooperation in the field of vocational education, in order to create conditions for the introduction of good practices and policies in the field of corporate social responsibility, with the participation of sectorial organizations meeting the criteria for representativeness in compliance with the Labour Code;
   3. Improving the education system in view of ensuring flexibility of the workforce with opportunities to work in different sectors of the economy;
   4. Simplifying the procedures for recognition of education acquired abroad and simplifying the conditions for recognition of education acquired in the EU member-states;
   5. Binding investment in the educational system with its reforming, aimed at improving the quality of the teaching material and its accessibility, depending on the age of the students, expanding the digitalization of education, towards better management of the educational institutions, including of their material and technical base;
   6. Promotional measures for more students with pedagogical specialties, for their realization as teachers, and for increasing their qualification;
   7. Development of opportunities for labour import in compliance with the needs of entrepreneurship and while regulating migration;
   8. Promoting the education of foreign students in Bulgarian educational institutions;
   9. Development of incentives for employment of university students in enterprises (in addition to, for example, the payment of scholarships against the obligation to work in the enterprise for a certain period of time);
   10. Implementation of programmes for employment of people of the third age, with a view to the longer use of their knowledge and skills..
        
9. IMPROVEMENT OF THE TRIPARTITE COOPERATION, through:
   1. Changes in the legislative framework regulating the tripartite dialogues, aimed at improving its efficiency, in view of the cases of formalization of the partnership;
   2. Specifying the term "sectorial organization" in the legislation (in the Additional provisions of the Labour Code, or by adopting a Law on the Sectorial Organizations);
   3. Revoking the restriction under Art. 35, para 3 of the Labour Code (for authorizing only one national organization in the cases when a sectorial organization is a member of more than one such organization), as it contradicts the constitutional right to freedom of association;
   4. Regulating restrictions on the extension of signed collective agreements and their mandatory nature for the employers at sectoral/branch level (in Art. 51b, para 4 of the Labour Code), subject to the following conditions:
      • the collective agreement in the respective sector/branch to be signed between all sectorial/branch employers' organizations and trade unions (not only the representative ones);
      • the employers who are not members of a sectorial/branch employers' organization to have expressed their explicit consent to join the signed collective agreement;
      • the employers who are members of sectorial/branch organizations that have signed collective agreement (or have explicitly expressed their consent to join it) to have granted explicit authorization in writing to the sectorial/branch organization for the signing of the collective agreement;
      • the Minister of Labour and Social Policy to have the right to assess the legality of the clauses of the signed collective agreement and not to extend the application of the unlawful clauses;
      • the extended collective agreement to the published in the State Gazette.
   5. Regulating (by creating a new Section III in the Regulations on the organization and the activity of the Tripartite Cooperation Councils) guarantees, aimed at transparency and publicity of the work of the Tripartite Cooperation Councils by developing and permanently maintaining an independent website of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, and of the branch/sectorial and regional councils for tripartite cooperation, in which all materials discussed at national and sectorial/branch/regional level to be published, as well as the positions submitted by the partners and the minutes of the meetings held.
       
10. INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE BCCI IN SUPPORTING ITS MEMBERS, through:
    1. Assisting the expansion of the regional networks of the sectorial organizations (through the regional chambers of commerce and industry and the national management bodies of the sectorial organizations, respectively through the Council of Presidents and the Council of Sectorial Organizations);
    2. Continuing the efforts for attracting new members of the BCCI – reputable and well-managed companies (traders and non-profit organizations);
    3. Expanding the mutual exchange of information and the sharing of good practices in the system of BCCI and the regional chambers of commerce and industry – for increasing the efficiency of the work with the members, the sectorial organizations, the state authorities and the local authorities;
    4. Assisting BCCI members’ activities in the preparation of project proposals for application under public procurements and procedures for financing from the EU structural and investment funds, through:
       • organization of information seminars and trainings on open calls under the Operational programmes;
       • individual consultations on the selection of the suitable programme and priority, and on establishing the administrative compliance and eligibility criteria;
       • individual consultations to assist SMEs in developing project proposals, including under the SME instrument “Horizon 2020” (general guidelines, activities, planning and reporting);
    5. Digitalization of the services of BCCI (in particular the services provided by BCCI’s “International Cooperation and International Organizations” Directorate), through:
       • organization of webinars - on-line seminars (participation in seminars, trainings, workshops, etc. without leaving the office or by visiting BCCI and with the possibility to use lecturers and participants from all over the world), using Openmeetings, WebHuddle, BigBlueButton and equipment;
       • organization of video trade conferencing (video conference meetings in real time – at BCCI or at the office of the respective company), via Skype or by means of specialized programmes;
       • using partner finding systems – matching systems (when organizing business forums the registration to be made on-line with automatically proposed partners and fixed meetings);
    6. Trainings in the field of “business etiquette” for the purpose of successful and adequate business contact (protocol, national characteristics, business behaviour, presentation of the company, etc.) - training before a specific business event, or as an independent training;
    7. Improving the existing functionalities of the registers of BCCI in view of their constant updating and achieving greater speed when providing services to the members;
    8. Optimizing the opportunities for use of electronic services from the Unified Trade Register of BCCI by introducing new forms of electronic identification of signatures and documents, necessary for the registration and updating of the data of the registered entities, issuance and validation of Certificates of Origin of goods, export invoices and other trade documents, issuance of ATA Carnets;
    9. Periodically updating the packages of services provided by BCCI to its members;
    10. Expanding the service provided by BCCI (through Coface Bulgaria) aimed at supporting the competitiveness of entrepreneurs and increasing their credit rating, by issuing an Excellent SME Certificate;
    11. Expanding the information included in the public part of the Unified Trade Register by including visual information about the products of the company, their production facilities and office space;
    12. Expanding the service provided by BCCI (through the Personal Data Protection Association) for adapting the activities of entrepreneurs (related to the administration/processing of personal data) to the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016;
    13. Promoting the use of out-of-court dispute resolution methods (mediation, commercial arbitration) for resolution of disputes between companies in the country and abroad; promoting the wider user of e-mediation; 
    14. Expanding the application and participation of BCCI in the implementation of projects related to achieving goals for the benefit of the members of the Chamber;
    15. Continuing the membership of BCCI in the most prestigious European and international organizations and moderate expansion of the cooperation with other European and international organizations – with emphasis on new regions, important for the future development of Bulgarian entrepreneurship;
    16. Further improving the organizational structure of BCCI in order to achieve its goals more effectively and efficiently;
    17. Adapting the activities related to the protection of the personal data administered by BCCI in full compliance with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016;
    18. Maintaining the certification level of BCCI, in compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001;
    19. Constant and effective presence of BCCI in the social networks; creation of/inclusion in special groups by sectors, regions, countries and other criteria, for the purpose of personalisation of the members and partners of BCCI and better communication with them.