Bulgaria on the driver’s seat for EU legislation

On the 1st of January, Bulgaria took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, the EU’s main decision-making body. This means that Bulgaria sets the agenda and chairs national ministers’ EU meetings for a six-month period.

The leadership has come at a point in time when some files important for advertising agencies are being discussed. Bulgaria has no easier tasks than brokering a common approach on the ePrivacy Regulation and navigating through inter-institutional negotiations on the reform of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. That’s a whopping situation for a first-timer!

Since the start of the year, Bulgaria has enjoyed being in the spotlight of the international media. Being one of the youngest members of the EU with a Soviet past, the press has been eager to see how the country will steer top EU-policy and law-making for the first time in history. So far, at least the decision to reopen discussions on some basic principles of the ePrivacy Regulation has been a brave move and demonstrates that the country could be off to a promising six months!

Apart from political discussions, Nikolay Karadjov, the Director General of BACA – the Bulgarian Association of Communications Agencies – tells that Bulgaria is also on its way to attract more and more tourists. The local government has allocated a record budget for international promotion of Bulgaria as a tourist destination. ‘It is wonderful news for the communication agencies which will take on this job, too.’

This could indeed be a moment for the Bulgarian advertising agencies to shine. According to the Commission’s business confidence records, trust in the success of the Bulgarian advertising sector has remained positive for a few years, predicting more growth might be to come.

EACA sends greetings to all of our Bulgarian members and wishes success and best of luck for the upcoming months!