The high-level conference on “Next MFF: distributive, allocative and stabilisation functions” will be held on 9 March 2018 in the National Palace of Culture, Sofia. With this forum, the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU aims to make a smooth transition between the discussion on the next MFF held during the informal meeting of Heads of State and Government on 23 February and the Commission’s proposal for the MFF beyond 2020, which is expected to be published in early May. The discussion will focus on the MFF in the context of the distributive and stabilisation functions of public finance.
Agenda
9 March 2018 | Friday
Morning session (expert thematic discussions)
8:50 – 9:00 Roundtable
9:00 – 9:30 Welcome and opening remarks (streamed live)
Mr Vladislav Goranov, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria
Ms. Ekaterina Zaharieva, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria
9:30 – 11:00 Panel I: Effective spending: How to ensure the appropriate policy mix?
Moderator: Prof. Ingrid Shikova
Keynote speaker: Mr Guntram Wolff, representative of the European think tank Bruegel (Brussels European and Global Economic Laboratory)
Discussants:
- Ms Andrea Itzlinger, Director in the Federal Chancellery, Austria
- Ms Kristīne Našeniece, Head of EU Coordination and policies department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 12:30 Panel II: Financing: How to adjust the current own resources system?
Moderator: Ms Nadia Calvino, Director General, DG Budget of the European Commission
Keynote speaker: Mr Jorge Nunez Ferrer, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Discussants:
- Mr Panu Kukkonen, Budget Counsellor, Ministry of Finance of Finland
- Mr Marek Soucek, Deputy Director of the Department for Coordination of European Policies, Czech Republic
- Mr Dirk Heiner Kranen, Head of Unit EU-Budget and Own Resources, Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany
- Mr Nils Sakss, Head of Fiscal Policy Department, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Latvia
12:30 – 13:00 Wrap-up session and closing remarks
Mr Oliver Dreute, Economic Data Analyst, European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), European Commission
Afternoon session (high-level political discussion)
11:30 – 12:00 Arrivals and doorstep statements (streamed live)
14:00 – 14:15 Roundtable (streamed live)
14:15 – 15:15 Opening session (streamed live)
Mr Tomislav Donchev, Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria
Ms Lilyana Pavlova, Minister of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU
Mr Günther Oettinger, Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources
Mr Jan Olbrycht, MEP, Member of the Committee on Budgets, Co-rapporteur on the MFF, European Parliament
Q&A
15:15 – 15:30 Coffee break
15:30 – 17:00 Panel III: The future of EU public finance – political debate
Moderator: Ms Marinela Petrova, Vice-Minister of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria
Keynote speakers:
- Ms Eulalia Rubio, Senior Research Fellow, Jacques Delors Institute Paris
- Mr Klaus-Heiner Lehne, President of the European Court of Auditors
Discussants:
- Ms Nathalie Loiseau, Minister for European Affairs, France
- Mr Gernot Blümel, Minister for European Affairs of Austria
- Mr Victor Negrescu, Romanian Minister delegate for European Affairs
- Mrs Ana Paula Zacarias, Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Portugal
- Mr Hans Dahlgren, Prime Minister’s State Secretary for international and EU-affairs, Sweden
- Ms Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia
- Mr Thijs van der Plas, State Secretary for European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
- (tbc) Mr Sandro Gozi, State Secretary for European Affairs, Italy
- Ms Iskra Mihaylova, MEP, Chair of Committe on Regional Development, European Parliament
- Mr Karl-Heinz Lambertz, President of the European Committee of the Regions
- Mr Ivailo Kalfin, special adviser for relations with the European and National Parliaments and budget revenue in the cabinet of Commissioner Oettinger
- Mr Vazil Hudak, Vice President of the European Investment Bank
- Mr Pierre Heilbronn, EBRD Vice President, Policy and Partnerships
17:00 – 17:30 Wrap-up and closing of the conference
Marinela Petrova, Vice-Minister of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria
Accreditation information
Accredited journalists can pick up their badges on Thursday, 8 March 2018 at the Registration Desk at Entrance B-2 of the National Palace of Culture between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Members of the press arriving in Sofia on the day of the event will be able to get their badges at the same entrance upon their arrival at the National Palace of Culture. Only accredited members of the press will have access to the National Palace of Culture.
Media opportunities
Accredited journalists will be able to access the roundtable for both the morning and afternoon sessions, as well as the arrivals and doorsteps of the afternoon session. There will be no press conference.
The opening sessions in the morning and afternoon are public and can be followed live on the website of the Bulgarian Presidency (floor language) and on the Bulgarian Presidency’s Facebook page (Bulgarian only). They will also be available in multiple languages through Europe by Satellite (EbS).
Photos and videos
Throughout the day, photos and videos will be uploaded in the Photo and Video sections of the Website. All official photos from the event are also available for download in high resolution on the Flickr account of the Bulgarian Presidency. Videos can be downloaded from Vimeo.
Press contacts
In Sofia: Veselin Jelev, [email protected], +359 883 990 247
In Brussels: Genoveva Chervenakova, [email protected], +32 473 575 083
