"We went to Brussels with ready-made local solutions, not just questions. Bulgaria has much to show and stands confidently alongside its European partners on the topics that will define the next decade" — with these words, the Minister of Innovation and Digital Transformation, Ivan Vasilev, outlined the goals of his working visit to Brussels. The country's position was presented to representatives of the European Commission and the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria to the EU, as reported by the official website of the Ministry of Innovation and Digital Transformation (MIDT).
Within his busy work schedule, Minister Vasilev held a total of six meetings. The visit began with a conversation with Ambassador Rumen Alexandrov, Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the European Union. This was followed by high-level talks with:
- Ekaterina Zaharieva – European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation;
- Henna Virkkunen – Executive Vice-President of the EC for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy;
- Timo Pesonen – Director-General of DG Defence Industry and Space;
- Kerstin Jorna – Director-General of DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs;
- Roberto Viola – Director-General of DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology.
A central focus of the negotiations was the push for support for a strong Competitiveness Fund in the EU's future multiannual financial framework. The Minister focused on facilitating access for small and medium-sized enterprises to European programs, as well as ensuring broader access for Bulgarian researchers and companies to European artificial intelligence facilities and research infrastructure. In the context of technological sovereignty, Vasilev discussed the participation of Bulgarian companies in European defense and space projects, as well as topics such as cybersecurity and digital transformation.
During the meetings, the Minister expressed Bulgaria's readiness to join the pilot countries for regulatory sandboxes and rapid digital company registration. He also presented the "Sigma" platform – an open-source development created to ensure transparency and control in public procurement, which proved to be a relevant topic at the European level as well.
Regarding digitalization, Vasilev confirmed the current schedule for the implementation of the digital wallet, which is currently 60 percent technically ready. There are plans to create a unified application that will gradually integrate services for citizens, followed by those for businesses. As a reminder, at the beginning of September, before the relevant parliamentary committee, the Minister pointed to the Law on the European Digital Identity Wallet as the most challenging piece of legislation for the MIDT. At that time, he committed the institution to making efforts to ensure that the legislative initiative, which is part of the government's program until 2026, would be submitted to parliament by the end of this year.