Spain will support 1 January 2007 as date for accession of Bulgaria and Romania, regardless of the anticipated opinion of the Council of the EU.

Alberto Navarro, Secretary of State for European Affairs, assured his Bulgarian colleague Meglena Kuneva that his country would firmly stand by the progress achieved by Sofia.

Navarro is visiting Bulgaria upon Meglena Kuneva's invitation.

The Spanish State Secretary for the European Union recalled that his country is among the fourteen states that completed the ratification of the two countries' EU Accession Treaty. Spain's Senate voted the accord on 14 December 2005.

The two European affairs ministers opened Tuesday a business and investment forum in the Bulgarian capital.

Meglena Kuneva announced the Cabinet is developing a transparency program to ensure an even better business climate to both local and international companies.

In turn, Spain's Secretary of State for European Affairs focused on the fact that with Bulgaria's entry the European common market will enlarge to serve more than 500 million consumers.

Spain is ready to share its knowledge on the management of EU structural funds with Bulgarian officials, Alberto Navarro also said during the forum.

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