PM Borissov: Bulgaria meets a significant part of the OECD standards and best practices

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov discussed Bulgaria's path to membership in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in a videoconference meeting with OECD Deputy Secretary-General, Ulrik Knudsen, on January 29.

The talks took place just before the official presentation of the Economic Review of Bulgaria, prepared by the OECD. With the review, Bulgaria makes a strong request for its readiness to join as an equal partner of the Organization.

During the videoconference meeting, Borissov and Knudsen focused on the priorities that Bulgaria is working on together with the Organization, according to its principles and values.

"As an EU member state, Bulgaria meets a significant part of the OECD standards and best practices. It is like-minded and has a high degree of readiness to accept the obligations of membership in the Organisation, " said Prime Minister Borissov to Ulrik Knudsen. He pointed out that in implementation of the action plan and the national three-year roadmap, a number of measures have been taken in recent years to intensify Bulgaria's cooperation with the OECD. In this regard, among the more serious achievements is the successfully completed process of Bulgaria's accession to the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and its Data Bank. From January 1, 2021, Bulgaria became the 34th member state of NEA.

In 2018, Bulgaria acquired the status of a participant in the Development Assistance Committee, and in 2019 it joined the OECD Recommendation on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises and the successfully completed project with the assistance of the OECD - “Modernizing the Framework for State Aid Management enterprises in accordance with good international practices”. Since 2019, the process of Bulgaria's accession to the OECD Codes for Liberalization of Capital Movements is underway.

Prime Minister Borissov stressed the high commitment of the country to the necessary actions to start negotiations for accession to the OECD.

In contacts with representatives of both the Secretariat and the OECD member states, one of the important challenges facing Bulgaria in preparing for its membership is to intensify its participation in committees, working groups, and to join more OECD legal instruments.

"This is exactly what we are emphasizing in the new three-year Roadmap for the period 2021-2023," added Prime Minister Borissov, pointing out that the document is in the final phase of preparation and is to be submitted for adoption by the Council of Ministers. The deepening of the cooperation with the OECD in all important areas is related to a specific financial commitment on the part of Bulgaria, which amounts to BGN 5,962,452 for the period 2021-2023.

Prime Minister Borissov told the Deputy Secretary General of the OECD, Ulrik Knudsen, that the joint general cooperation should continue in depth and Bulgaria is intensively taking the next important steps on the way to its membership in the Organization.