Minister Nankov attended a meeting with members of the College of Commissioners

“We will focus our efforts on reducing the disparities between regions and promoting territorial cohesion through the implementation of urban policy.” This was stated by Minister Nikolay Nankov during his participation in a Cluster Meeting with members of the College of Commissioners on Inclusive and stable Europe, close to the citizens. “We will encourage discussion on the polycentric model of territorial development and a balanced integrated investment approach,” Minister Nankov said and stressed that this would help ensure funding and development of smaller and peripheral settlements. “The aim is to reduce the negative demographic trends in the middle-sized and small-sized cities and to increase their economic competitiveness,” he added.

The Regional Minister announced that through the use of territorial cooperation instruments the efforts will predominantly aim at overcoming the common challenges for partner countries and regions in the Western Balkans in order to support their accession to the EU.

“Driven by the understanding that we should make full use of the potential of existing macro-regional strategies, we will work to enhance the visibility of the Danube and Black Sea region, including by increasing their interconnection on the basis of the potential of the two regions,” Nikolay Nankov said. The Minister reminded that in October 2017 Bulgaria took up the Presidency of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region. “The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2018, combined with the Danube Strategy Presidency, provides a unique opportunity for Bulgaria to work actively towards deepening economic, social, and cultural cooperation with all stakeholders,” the Regional Minister said.

“We highly appreciate Commissioner Korina Kretsu’s strong commitment to macro-regional strategies and we look forward to our close cooperation within the Danube region,” Minister Nankov said.

During the meeting, Günther Oettinger, Budget & Human Resources Commissioner, commented that the Cohesion Policy of the European Union should continue beyond 2020. He said that Bulgaria was a good example in the last 10 years and pointed out that our country was proof that the policy was effective.

Minister Nikolay Nankov thanked the Commissioner for the positive and objective assessment of Bulgaria regarding the implementation of the Cohesion Policy and for his encouraging forecast for the future of the country after 2020.