The event is co-hosted by the PES’s European parliamentary group, Socialists & Democrats, and the parliamentary group of the centre-right European People’s Party.
As a former prime minister of Bulgaria as well as the leader of the country’s Socialist delegation in the European Parliament, Mr Stanishev is the opening speaker. Other headline speakers include Boyko Borissov, the current prime minister of Bulgaria and leader of the ruling party GERB; Korneliya Ninova, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party; and Dragomi Stoinev, deputy chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party parliamentary group.
The conference is titled ‘Bulgaria in the eurozone: Economic logic vs myths’. Leading economic experts will also discuss the cost of non-entry into the eurozone.
In advance of opening the conference, Mr Stanishev said:
“At this crucial point in the Bulgarian EU presidency, the attention of all of Europe is focused on Bulgaria, and the eurozone is high on the agenda. This is an opportunity that Bulgaria must seize.
“That’s why I proposed today’s high-level conference, to bring together Bulgaria’s major parties as well as economists and other experts to lay out the path to joining the single currency, and address some of the myths around it.
“Our place is in a reformed single currency, one which works to improve the prosperity of all its members and to reduce the gap between the EU’s richer and poorer countries. This is not just a treaty obligation for Bulgaria, but a political priority too.”
