Political and economic developments in Bulgaria in
1998 were an important contributing factor to the accession
preparations of the country. In its 1997 Opinion on Bulgaria’s
application for EU membership, the European Commission concluded
that “Bulgaria is on its way to satisfy the political criteria.” In
November 1998, the Commission noted: “A reform orientated majority
under the leadership of the United Democratic Forces (UDF) has
helped to secure support for market economy reforms and further
integration of the country with the European Union and other
Euro-Atlantic bodies.”
In this context, as an interdisciplinary institute,
CSD has been increasingly focusing on providing a link between
domestic reform policies and the implementation of the EU accession
strategy. The European Program has therefore sought to make an
impact in assisting the latter by way of two main formats –
producing analytical studies and policy recommendations and
facilitating the exchange of experience in order to foster a
cross-section of the expert community in European integration.
1.Policy Studies
The main output of the Program in 1998 was the
volume Bulgaria and the European Union: Towards an Institutional
Infrastructure. Developed as a result of projects with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the EU Integration Secretariat at
the Council of Ministers, and published in both English and
Bulgarian with the financial assistance of the German Marshall Fund
of the United States, the book included policy analysis and impact
studies in eleven areas of EU accession, as well as policy and
legislative recommendations.
The volume was the first publication of its kind in
Bulgaria not only in terms of the scope and depth of its analysis
and recommendations, but also in the process of its development.
With over 40 experts and policy makers involved in its preparation,
it was a collaboration and networking exercise in the area of
accession between the public and private sectors with an impact
beyond the production of the research itself.
Overall, the publication aims at preparing the
groundwork – legislative, policy, etc. – for an adequate
institutional set-up of accession. The main purpose of the
publication is summarized in the Introduction:
The accession to the European Union in particular
has been accepted as the determining factor of the reform process.
The key to the success of both is the development of the
institutional infrastructure of political democracy and market
economy.
Eleven areas of accession were covered by the
studies:
- The Democratic Process and Institutions, the Rule
of Law, Human Rights and the Protection of Minorities
- Central Bank and Financial Services
- Convertibility of the Lev, Liberalization of
Capital Movement and Current Payments in Bulgaria
- Competition
- Company Law
- Common Foreign and Security Policy
- Customs Union
- Securities Markets Legislation
- Environmental Policy and Legislation
- Instruments for the Development of Regional
Cooperation
- Telecommunications
The studies in each subject area were developed by
teams of experts coming from governmental institutions,
non-governmental organizations, the business community and other
public and private bodies. As in other similar initiatives, this
allowed the Center for the Study of Democracy to incorporate the
expertise of a larger cross-section of the Bulgarian polity and to
maintain the public-private dialogue on these key issues.
Furthermore, the input of various institutions and stakeholders was
ensured through a process where the opinion of leading Bulgarian
experts and policy makers was solicited on the draft versions of
the studies before their publication.
The overall editing of Bulgaria and the European
Union: Towards an Institutional Infrastructure was done by Dr.
Maria Yordanova, CSD Law Program Coordinator, Dr. Ognian Shentov,
CSD President, Mr. Stanislav Daskalov, President of European
Movement Bulgaria and former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mr.
Boyko Todorov, CSD European Program Coordinator.
Bulgaria’s Participation in EU Structural
Policies was the topic of the Program’s next policy analysis
project. Its output was a study on the institutional, budgetary and
other implications of Bulgaria’s preparation for participation in
the structural funds of the European Union. An updated version of
the paper produced as a result of the project will be published in
both English and Bulgarian in 1999. The purpose of the publication
is to provide an informational and awareness background to the work
of the government administration at a time when Phare assistance
will be gradually phased out to be replaced by, inter alia,
pre-accession structural policy instruments.
The study was developed by a team of experts from
both the public and private sector and emphasized the following
areas:
- Financial and budgetary aspects;
- Social policy aspects;
- Regional development;
- Transport;
- Telecommunications.
The study identified the most appropriate options
for the participation of Bulgarian regions, municipal authorities,
and other regional and local bodies (including NGOs) in activities
within the framework of the regional policy of the EU. It
emphasized opportunities for public bodies, private organizations
and individuals in the sphere of social affairs (employment
promotion, equal opportunities, etc.) to benefit from the social
development policies of the EU. Specific emphasis was placed on the
telecommunication and transport infrastructures, social policies
and budgetary preparations.
A subsidiary objective was to improve the knowledge
of the public authorities – both central and local – about this
crucial issue relating to Bulgaria's EU membership, by providing
information on their future roles and responsibilities. Thus a
Structural Funds Guide was produced as a reference document
in Bulgarian, completed with some samples of successful projects
from Greece, Portugal and Spain.
2.FACILITATING DIALOGUE
The European Program aims, among other things, to
provide a platform for public-private dialogue in the area of
European integration. One way of accomplishing this is to provide a
mechanism by which the expertise and technical and policy input of
the private sector in Bulgaria – NGOs, businesses, the academic
community - could be made available to the public institutions on
matters of EU integration.
Furthermore, CSD seeks to facilitate the interface
of various input in the integration process. In October, CSD held
consultations with Mr. Franz Kaps, Senior Partnership Advisor at
the Office of Vice President of the World Bank who is involved in
the cooperation between the Bank and the European Union, on the
role of non-governmental organizations in the process. As the World
Bank will make a contribution to the preparation of countries of
Central and Eastern Europe for EU membership, its experience in
working with NGOs will be of particular significance.
The public-private interface is also sought through
Forum Europe 2000 - a series of breakfast meetings
bringing together an audience of Bulgarian public and private
institutions with guest speakers from the European institutions and
states. Its recent guests included Ambassador Claus Grube,
Undersecretary at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Eikka
Kosonen, Head of the EU Secretariat at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Finland, and Mr. Guy De Vel, Director of Legal Affairs
and the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe. With the
support of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Mr. De Vel’s
visit was instrumental for Bulgaria’s joining the Criminal Law
Convention of the Council of Europe and the monitoring mechanism of
the Convention, GRECO.
* * *
Integration into the wider European structures,
including the EU, requires the active participation of all sections
of Bulgarian society, public and private. In 1998, there was a
marked trend of increased involvement of non-governmental
organizations in facilitating the adoption of European policies and
legislation. Thus, while the initial stages of Bulgaria’s
association with the EU have been carried only through government
channels, NGOs in Bulgaria already possess the capacity to produce
policy-oriented and legislation compatibility research, provide
training, conduct awareness activities and monitor the process of
integration.
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