Currently, the EU is at 20% emission reduction - achieved within 30 years. However, this includes the collapse of industry in Eastern Europe. Most coal-fired power generation in Western Europe is closed, the low-hanging fruits of energy efficiency are already taken. But there is no way to decrease CO2 emissions by additional 30% within 10 years only, says Boyan Rashev, environmental management expert and a Managing Partner at Denkstatt.

The efforts of the international organisations have to be focused on the prevention of migration and providing decent life in the countries of Africa and the Middle East. In my opinion, this is the best and surest solution to the problem, albeit in a long-term perspective, says H.E. Ursula Hoefter Zuccoli, Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to Bulgaria, in an interview to Europost.

The debate about performance orientation of cohesion policy is not new and involved through the years many different stakeholders that had sometimes contradictory views. With our briefing paper we aim at contributing to this debate by providing relevant and focused information to all those involved in tackling the difficult political and practical challenges on how to improve performance orientation for the future, says Iliana Ivanova, Member of the ECA in an interview to Europost.

The raised ambition is the result of the EU elections held in May, of the very good election results of the Greens and the protests of the civil society. On the EU level it was proven that it is possible to ensure economic growth in parallel with decreasing the greenhouse emissions, says Georgi Stefanov, Chief Climate and Energy Expert at WWF Bulgaria, in an interview to Europost.

First of all, the new SME Strategy needs to be for all SMEs, not only for those which are innovative, fast-growing, internationally active, but also for those that are providing our day-to-day needs, such as food, clothes, houses, cars, anything we sit on. We also need to show the added value of the Union to them. Secondly, we need to make sure that all these words that we have at EU level are turned into action, says Veronique Willems, Secretary General of SMEunited, in an interview to Europost.

How much longer is the EU going to present an encouraging view of the situation and at the same time remain passive regarding the region? Continuing this policy of positive messages without corresponding action will only contribute to a further deterioration of sentiments towards the EU and will discourage people who are truly pro-European, says Ilhan Kyuchyuk, ALDE Party Vice-President, MEP from Renew Europe Group, in an interview to Europost.

It is important to underline that the EU has the potential to become a major player in the provision of water-related technologies and services. In this respect, digitalisation can help to significantly increase the efficiency both of water resource management and of production and service concepts, says Simo Tiainen, rapporteur on the EESC's blue bioeconomy opinion. 

The use of social media in politics becomes a major player in building consensus. The new technologies have deeply affected the working methods of diplomats and their communication style, says H.E. Stefano Baldi, Ambassador of Italy in Bulgaria, in an interview to Europost.

Our work in the EU-funded DECODE project is being used by Facebook for its new Libra project, through an “acqui-hire” of some of our former colleagues. This choice is an attempt to gain a strategic advantage in this market and establish a monopoly exactly where we intend to create an open field of opportunities for Europe's digital single market, says Dr Denis Roio, a software artisan, CTO and co-founder of Dyne.org Think &Do Tank and software house, in an interview to Europost.

Bulgaria has met all the recommendations although some of them were changed on-the-go while others were contradictory. Somebody has to explain why in the last 12 years tens of millions of euro were spent to fund these procedures, and to show what results they have yielded, says MEP Emil Radev in an interview to Europost.