Declaration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria on the the results of the meeting of the OECD Council, held on 7th – 8th of June in Paris.
09 June 2017 Events and DiscussionsA meeting of the Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) was held in Paris on 7th-8th of June 2017. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria will carefully analyze the results of this meeting, as well as the Strategic Guidelines of the Secretary-General of the Organization and the report of the working group on its future development and expansion. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is pleased that OECD member states do not close the doors of this organisation to the accession of candidate countries that share values and meet the relevant membership criteria.
As is known, the Republic of Bulgaria has officially expressed its desire to join the OECD in 2007. The membership of the Republic of Bulgaria in the OECD remains one of our foreign policy priorities. In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalls the position from June 2nd this year of the president of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, regarding the country’s policy towards the Organisation: “In Bulgaria there is full political agreement on the benefits of membership in the OECD. We are convinced that the efforts of our country and the difficult reforms we are implementing are visible and appreciated in Europe.” According to the Bulgarian head of state, “membership in the OECD is considered a “certificate” for the quality of reforms in all sectors of socio-economic life, as well as a positive sign to the international financial community and investors for the stability of the economy and financial system.”
On the eve of the meeting of the OECD Council, Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the Organisation Jose Angel Guria, stating that “as a country with an open market economy, pluralistic democracy, in which human rights are being respected, Bulgaria is ready to take on the commitments of a future member of the OECD.” The letter expressed the conviction that Bulgaria is able to actively and constructively participate in the formulation of international standards for economic development and a better quality of life.
Bulgaria will continue to make efforts towards joining the OECD,by meeting the specific criteria and indicators. We are convinced that this activity is for the benefit of Bulgarian citizens. The results of the OECD Council meeting (7th – 8th of June, 2017) stimulate our actions to accelerate the accession process, to participate even more actively in the committees and working groups of the Organisation, to join the necessary legal instruments and to continue the internal reforms. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its conviction that Bulgaria’s membership in the OECD will serve as an example for our neighbors, for the countries of the neighboring regions and as an incentive to accelerate their reforms in accordance with the standards of this global organisation.