The 10-th Anniversary of the EU Club at the BCCI

On 25^th of January 2010 the regular meeting of the EU Club at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chamber took place, marking the tenth anniversary of this Club. The EU Club aims to be an active tool for Bulgarian integration in the European institutions and to promote and defend the Bulgarian business interests on the single European market.

More than 100 Club’s members – noted diplomats, politicians, journalists, bankers, entrepreneurs – visited BCCI again and exchanged information and insights concerning the new perspectives and challenges for Bulgaria in the EU.

The vice president of the BCCI Georgi Stoev welcomed the audience. The Chairman of the EU Club Ingrid Shikova drew a general conclusion regarding the achievements of the Club during its first 10 years and also its future goals. “I wouldn’t explicate what role this Club had played in the Accession process citing how often it and its host, the BCCI, had been mentioned in the accession documents”, she simply stated.

In her speech Mrs. Shikova repeated on several occasions the words of the great Spaniard Miguel de Cervantes: “Never beg for what you could gain by yourself!” The activities of the EU Club have followed this line of behavior, especially in the first “accession” years of its establishment, she stated. The new challenge for the club and also for the whole Bulgarian population is to comprehend the EU as “US”, and not as “THEM”.

Also the more abundant information regarding the European deeds should emerge as bigger preparedness. “ To be prepared means a half victory ”, Ingrid Shikova summed up with another thought from Cervantes. Starting from 1 st of January 2010 Spain holds the rotation Presidency of the EU.

The Ambassador of Spain H.E. Jorge Fuentes presented to the audience the priorities of the Spanish Presidency emphasizing meanwhile on the economic affairs. Spain is aware of the Bulgarian aspirations to join the eurozone and the Shengen zone, stressed the Ambassador, expressing also his hope, that these processes would have their official starting point namely during the Spanish Presidency. According to the Spanish diplomat , the most probable terms for this are years 2013 for the eurozone and 2011 for the Shengen zone.

The Chairman of the Bulgarian – Spanish Business Council Dimitar Pampulov made a brief presentation of the activities of the Council, which works to enhance the trade and economic relations between Spain and Bulgaria already six years.

On this round meeting of the EU Club also a novel initiative was presented: the forthcoming establishment of International diplomatic trade club (IDTC). The coordinator of this project for Bulgaria is Juraj Melioris, Head of the Commercial Section at the Czech Embassy to Bulgaria. This new diplomatic trade club will introduce the foreign diplomats with the Bulgarian economic potential, the business opportunities in the regions, and will inform about the international trade politics of the country.

„We are aiming at strengthening and facilitating the communication between foreign investors and Bulgarian administration”, stated Mr. Melioris. Right for membership in the IDTC have economic councilors and diplomats accredited in the country. The representatives of international companies will be accepted as affiliated members.

The EU Club at the BCCI is established as an initiative of Euro Info Centre Sofia on 10.02.2000 with the financial support of the European Commission. In November 2003 the EU Club became a member of the international network of the EU Clubs and its activity is partially funded by UniCredit Bulbank.