Ms Kouneva, you are the official representative of the Bulgarian government in the Convention. What is your opinion on the Convention process?

The establishment of a Convention of representatives of the European institutions, the current and the future EU Member States is an attempt to find an answer to a number of challenges that Europe and the European Union are facing.

The main challenge facing the European Union is its enlargement. The prospect of EU enlargement to the East nearly doubling the number of Member States in the next 3-4 years is unprecedented for Union development. The expansion of the EU of such a dimension should go hand in hand with the preservation and enrichment of the substance of the integration process, taking into consideration the specifics of the candidate countries.

The necessity to find optimal compromise between the drive towards the creation of a common European economic and political space and the desire to preserve national identity is getting more pressing. Cultural pluralism in the EU, which will widen in the course of enlargement, has to be perceived also in the future as a basic value of the EU - a value that does not contradict, and quite the opposite - enriches the content of the European integration process.

In the context of the fight against terrorism and the new security threats the EU has to address the challenge of speeding-up the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice in order to defend its citizens.

The rapid changes taking place on the global scene require that the EU reaffirms its place of a leading actor with an autonomous role in international relations.

What do you think are the expectations of the Bulgarian citizens from the Convention?

The aspirations of Bulgarian citizens coincide with the aspirations of the citizens of the Member States, as defined in the Laeken Declaration: employment, combating poverty and social exclusion, economic and social cohesion, justice and fight against crime, etc. This coincides with the position Bulgaria has already forwarded in support of widening the mandate of the Convention. Decreasing bureaucracy, reinforcing the principles of good governance, increasing the transparency of administration - these are priority issues for public opinion both in the candidates and in the member states.

What according to you are the necessary reforms in the European union?

Measures towards increasing the efficiency and authority of the European Commission would help to more easily defend the common European interest. The election of the Commission's President by the European Parliament would consolidate the political authority of the Commission. The European Commission should retain its monopoly of initiative when adopting new European legislation. In addition, it needs to have greater role in setting the agenda of the European Council, in formulating new policies and in defining the relationship between European institutions for their implementation. The powers of the European Parliament need further extension by means of applying the co-decision procedure on a greater number of issues. The European Council, prepared by the reformed General Affairs Council, should remain the body, which sets the major guidelines for the development of the Union.The creation of a second chamber of the European Parliament would be counterproductive, because the inclusion of one additional body in the decision-making system would make it much more complex and clumsy.

There is also a need to clarify the competences in the EU between the national and the European level of governance.

The approach of creating a "catalogue" of competencies, executed at the different levels of governance in the EU, should be avoided. This is important with regard to keeping up the impetus of the integration process as well as of the flexible and open character of the Community system, which needs to possess levers for adaptation to the dynamics of development in the contemporary world.

A possible distribution of competencies at European and national level should lead neither to depriving the European union of its competences, nor to a "re-nationalization" of certain policies. The principle of a gradual transfer of powers from national to regional level should be preserved. The issue of subsidiarity should be left to the discretion of the Member States and settled separately on a case-by-case basis, insofar as policy definition in a certain field or of particular cooperation depends upon the overall social and economic development at a given moment. The answer to the question at which level the execution of competencies is most efficient should be given on an ad hoc basis in accordance with established mechanisms. Political settlements of eventual disputes concerning the proper level of decision-making competence should be sought within the framework of a parliamentary subsidiarity committee made up of members of the European Parliament and of the national parliaments. In the end, it is the European Court of Justice, which executes judicial control on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.

Proportionality should remain a guiding principle in the choice of a legislative act or of a joint action. Each time the EU has to make a choice between a number of methods of action, it should choose the one that gives most freedom to the states, natural and legal persons.
Notwithstanding eventual changes in the competencies executed by the Union and the Member States respectively, solidarity and equality among countries should remain fundamental principles of the European Union.

Ms Kouneva, during the first Convent working session you mentioned solidarity as a leading principle in the process of European integration. Could you specify more on that?

I am sure that the European spirit will dominate the Convent work and that will strengthen the citizen’s interest and participation at the process of building of our continent common future.

What prospects do you see for the Convention to produce a Constitution for the European citizens?

Agreeing on a single text of a constitutional character would help the consolidation of the acquis communautaire. Simplification of the treaties and their transformation into one constitutional treaty will make the Union more understandable and attractive for European citizens. Such a model would contribute to the consolidation of a common European identity among the peoples of the EU Member States. This treaty would establish a single European Union where - while abolishing the formal pillar structure - different decision-making instruments and mechanisms proper to respective policies would continue to exist. The treaty should be divided into two parts: basic provisions, which would require ratification by all Member States if subjected to amendment, as well as other provisions - functional or technical ones - dealing predominantly with common policies, whose amendment could be effected following an easier procedure. The Charter of Fundamental Rights should be incorporated in the constitutional treaty. This will reinforce humane values and democratic principles of the Union and make it much more attractive.

How do you see the role of Bulgaria in the Convention?

The Bulgarian representatives in the Convention should aim at the greatest possible participation in its bodies: working groups, editorial group, etc.

Bulgaria needs to find a successful formula of participation that would help build up trust among member states, candidate countries and representatives of the EU institutions. This would mean to show an utmost sense of responsibility and greatest commitment to the cause of the forum, to demonstrate expert capacity and profound analysis in support of theses that are in unison with Bulgarian interests, or in search of decisions' alternatives. Bulgaria should behave in the Convention like a de facto, if not a de jure member of the EU.

How do you see the public debate on the Convention and Enlargement as a whole in Bulgaria?

The EU enlargement should involve the entire society, not only the state administration. This means that it would be of utmost importance to start a debate simultaneously on the benefits and risks of membership, so as to meet the concerns of every citizen, which would inevitably arise with the increase in the public awareness of society. According to a sociological study conducted in the autumn of 2001, 82 per cent of the Bulgarian citizens are in favour of the country's EU accession. This is a favourable and encouraging fact, but the experience and the logic of earlier waves of EU enlargement indicate that the further away from membership a concrete country has been, the higher the support in society, and accordingly with the progress of the negotiations, this support decreased to a greater or lesser extent. The more real the accession became, the more tangibly the realities having both a positive and restrictive characters are experienced. The Bulgarian Government has prepared a Communication Strategy which puts both on the scales in the public space and gives an opportunity to every social subject (institutional, group and individual) to become aware of the domination of the positive aspects of the process. The Communication Strategy is not a parallel process, but a dialogue with society and a way of guaranteeing its active position.

The implementation of such a type of communications policy would not only meet the need of information about what EU membership means for every citizen, but it would also lend democratic legitimacy to the process itself.