During his two days’ working visit to Dublin, Minister Valentin Tserovski met with Tom Parlon, Minister of State for Public Works at Treasury of the Republic of Ireland

During his two days’ working visit to Dublin, Minister Valentin Tserovski met with Tom Parlon, Minister of State for Public Works at Treasury of the Republic of Ireland. Present at the meeting were Mrs. Biserka Benisheva, Bulgaria’s Chargé d’affaires in Dublin, and Mr. Belin Mollov, Advisor to the Minister on European Integration. Valentin Tserovski’s visit came shortly after the Bulgarian Foreign Minister’s visit to Dublin and the visit of the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, to Sofia. Among the main topics discussed by Minister Tserovski and Minister Parlon were the priorities of the Irish Presidency of the European Union, starting in January 2004, the Irish and the Bulgarian experience in the absorption of EU funds and the progress of Bulgaria’s negotiations with the Union on Chapter 21, Regional Policy. At the meeting, Minister Tserovski emphasised Bulgaria’s good cooperation with Italy during the Italian Presidency in Office and expressed his hope that the same positive spirit would be preserved during the forthcoming Irish Presidency. Minister Tserovski briefed Minister Parlon on the Bulgarian Government’s priorities, and in particular, those of his Ministry, in the EU accession negotiations process. He pointed out the Commission’s positive evaluation of Bulgaria’s progress in its latest Regular Report and outlined the following agenda for the immediate future: • Conclusion of the negotiations on Chapter 21 • Effective absorption of the EU pre-accession instruments and preparation for the Structural and the Cohesion Fund • Building administrative capacity at all levels of government • Decentralisation and strengthening of local self-government • Inter-departmental coordination • Effective monitoring The two Ministers exchanged information about Bulgaria’s and Ireland’s respective approaches to these priorities. Minister Parlon endorsed Bulgaria’s timeline for the conclusion of negotiations on the Regional Policy Chapter. Regarding the utilisation of EU funds, Minister Parlon shared his country’s successful experience, emphasising that a considerable proportion of the funding was spent on education and new technologies. Despite the remaining issues in infrastructure development, Ireland gave priority to the development of technological capacity and high quality human resources for inward investment. Thirty years ago, young Irish used to emigrate to Great Britain, USA and Australia, and unemployment was very high. Nowadays, thanks to the priority funding of university education and innovations, emigration has not only been stopped but has indeed been reversed, and unemployment has been reduced to 4.4 per cent, said Minister Parlon. Minister Tserovski invited Minister Parlon to visit Bulgaria and Minister Parlon accepted the invitation gratefully. The two Ministers agreed to promote the intensification of operational contacts between Bulgarian and Irish experts. Later today, Minister Tserovski will have a meeting with Mr. Amon O’Queev, Minister for Regional Development. [Caption] Minister Valentin Tserovski and Tom Parlon, Government Minister for Public Works, Republic of Ireland Public Relations and International Cooperation Directorate