Download Bulgaria - IT, Sligo

European Affairs- Simulation Game
Group 24 – Bulgaria
Avril Lee
Cedric Marcy
Damian Mc Hugh
Martin Schmieder
Questions:
1. General overview and Economy - build a profile of the
economy
2. Politics
3. The country in question and the EU
4. Waste Policy in the state and implementation of EU Directives
Question 1
BULGARIA
POPULATION -
8.1M
CAPITAL CITY-
1.114,759
AREA -
110912 KM (SQ)
CURRENCY -
LIV
RELIGION-
ORTHEDOX / ISLAM / CHRISTIAN
ETHNICS-
BULARGIANS 87.8% / TURKS 9.4% / ROMA 4.7%
EU MEMBERSHIP -
1/1/07
DEFENCE
NATO 19/3/04
PRESIDENT
GEORGE PAVLANOV SILL
PRIME MINISTER
SIMEON BORISOV SAKSKOBURGGOTSKI
TRANSPORT
Rail of great importance as well as river infrastructure (along river Danube)
River ports -Rousse,Lom, Sushtov,
Main sea ports - Varna Bourgas
Airports – Sofia, Vourgas, Larna, Plovdiv.
KEY INDUSTRIES
Industries- car manufacture aircraft manufacture/maintenance/ship breaking.
Bulgarian heavy industries, mostly machine building, chemicals, and electronics,
were concentrated in relatively few production centres. Important machine tool plants
were the Bolshevik Tool Plant at Gabrovo, the Nikola Vaptsarov Combine at Pleven,
and the Radomir Heavy Equipment Plant in southwest Bulgaria. The Electronic
Materials Processing and Equipment Scientific-Production Combine was a combined
scientific and industrial center at Sofia. Electronic instrument production centers were
located at the Plovdiv Power Electronics Plant, the Shabla Electromechanical Plant on
the northeast coast, the Stara Zagora Industrial Robot Plant, the Pravets Instrument
Plant in the southwest, and the Petkov Instrument Plant at Turgovishte. Major
chemical and petrochemical producers were the Industrial Petrochemical Plant at
Pleven (specializing in vehicle lubricants and oils), the Burgas Petrochemical
Combine (plastics), the Vratsa Industrial Chemical Combine (chemical fertilizers),
and four chemical plants at Dimitrovgrad. Bulgaria also built large numbers of ships,
many for Soviet customers, at its Ruse and Varna shipyards on the Black Sea. The
Shumen Vehicle Plant assembled LIAZ-Madara heavy trucks in a three-way
arrangement with the Liberac Auto Plant of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS OVER LAST DECADE
Contracted dramatically after 1989 with the loss of the market of the Council for
Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) member states, to which the Bulgarian
economy had been closely tied. The standard of living fell by about 40%, but it
regained pre-1990 levels in June 2004. In addition, UN sanctions against Yugoslavia
and Iraq took a heavy toll on the Bulgarian economy. The first signs of recovery
emerged in 1994 when the GDP grew and inflation fell. During 1996, however, the
economy collapsed due to lack of international economic support and an unstable
banking system. Since 1997 the country has been on the path to recovery, with GDP
growing at a 4 – 5% rate, increasing FDI, macroeconomic stability and EU
membership set for 2007.
Former government- elected in 2001, pledged to maintain the fundamental economic
policy objectives adopted by its predecessor in 1997, i.e., retaining the Currency
Board, practicing sound financial policies, accelerating privatization, and pursuing
structural reforms. Economic forecasts for 2005 and 2006 predict continued growth in
the Bulgarian economy. The annual year-on-year GDP growth for 2005 and 2006 is
expected to total 5.3% and 6.0%, respectively. Industrial output for 2005 is forecast to
rise by 11.9% year-on-year, and for 2006 — by 15.2% year-on-year. Unemployment
for 2005 is projected at 11.5% and for 2006 — at under 10%.
Agricultural output has decreased since 1989 but production is growing in the recent
years. Farming is more important than stock-breeding. The levels of mechanization
are higher than most of the Eastern European countries but there is lack of modern
equipment. There are more than 150 000 tractors, 10 000 combines.
The country is a major electricity producer a the most important exporter in the whole
region due the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant with total capacity of 3 760 MW. A
second plant, the Belene Nuclear Power Plant with capacity of 2 000 MW is under
construction. The biggest thermal power stations are "Maritza Iztok 2"- 1 460 MW;
"Varna"- 1 230 MW; "Maritza Iztok 3"- 830 MW; "Ruse Iztok"- 630 MW; "Bobov
dol"- 600 MW and "Maritza Iztok 1"- 500 MW. There is a $1 400 000 000 project for
construction of additional 670 MW for the later.
PRESENT ECONOMIC SITUATION
AND
ECONOMIC CHALLENGES
From 1956 through 1988, industrial production rose, but the actual rates declined
steadily during the thirty-three year period. By the late 1980s, Bulgarian industry had
been completely exhausted.The consistent emphasis on developing heavy industry at
any cost created raw material demands well beyond the country's domestic resources.
This problem was compounded by the inefficient industrial use of energy and raw
materials: Bulgaria used more energy per unit than any Western economy. For this
reason, one of the most salient aspects of the Bulgarian post-war economy was
reliance on imported Soviet natural resources. A critical economic policy decision in
the late 1980s was Zhivkov's special emphasis on several energy-intensive industries,
despite the inadequacy of domestic energy supply. In the early 1990s, the new regime
faced a choice of dismantling many of those enterprises, finding less expensive
energy sources to keep them running, or acquiring enough hard currency to upgrade
their technological level and make them less energy-intensive. To further complicate
industrial policy, beginning in 1991 the Soviet Union began charging market prices in
hard currency for its oil and gas. In 1989 Soviet imports supplied Bulgaria with 95
percent of its coal, 90 percent of its crude oil, and 100 percent of its natural gas.
Although Bulgaria imported the majority of its raw materials for energy and industrial
requirements, some domestic fuels and minerals were available. A small supply of
hard coal was depleted rapidly in the 1980s; in 1987 only 198,000 tons were mined.
More ample deposits of low-quality lignite yielded 31,400,000 tons in 1987, but those
fuels were relatively inefficient energy producers and high polluters. In 1990 the
Maritsa Basin in south-central Bulgaria was expected to remain the prime source of
lignite for the foreseeable future; yearly production at its Maritsa-iztok open-pit mines
was projected to reach forty million tons after the year 2000.
Finally, emergence of a significant, fast-growing environmental movement cast the
trade-off of environmental quality for economic growth in starkly negative terms.
Barring substantial technical aid (most likely from the West) to reduce industrial
waste, public demand for environmentally sound economic policy stood as a
formidable obstacle to industrial expansion.
COMPARSION:
HUNGRY
CAPITAL
AREA
POPULATION
CURRENCY
RELIGION
ETHNICS
EU
DEFENCE
PRESIDENT
PRIME MINISTER
BUDAPEAST
93,030 KM (SQ)
10
FORINT
ROMAN CATHOLIC/ 50% PROD/PRESBY 19%
HUNGARIANS 93% GERMANS12%ROMA 5%
ROMANIANS 0.8% OTHERS1%
1/5/04
NATO 1999
LASZLO SOLYOM
FERENC GYURESANY
SLOVAKIA
CAPITAL
AREA
POPULATION
CURRENCY
RELIGION
ETHNICS
EU
DEFENCE
PRESIDENT
PRIME MINISTER
BRATASLAVA
490,360 KM (SQ)
5.4
SLOVAK KORUNA
ROMAN CATHOLIC 69% PROD/PRESBY 12%
SLOVAKS 86% HUNGARIANS 9.7% GERMANS
ROMA /ROMANIANS OTHERS 3 %
1/5/04
NATO 1999
IVAN GASPAROVIC
ROBART FICO
Question 2
Government
President: Georgi Purvanov (2002)
Prime Minister: Sergei Stanishev (2005)
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Sofia, 1,088,700
Other large cities: Plovdiv, 338,200; Varna, 312,300; Burgas, 192,000; Ruse, 161,000
Languages: Bulgarian 85%, Turkish 10%, Roma 4%
Ethnicity/race: Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other (including Macedonian,
Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) 2% (2001)
Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 83%, Islam 12%, other Christian 1% (2001)
Geography
Bulgaria shares borders with Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, Greece, and Turkey. Two
mountain ranges and two great valleys mark the topography of Bulgaria, a country the size of
Tennessee and situated on the Black Sea. The Maritsa is Bulgaria's principal river, and the
Danube also flows through the country.
History
The Thracians lived in what is now known as Bulgaria from about 3500 B.C. They were
incorporated into the Roman Empire by the first century A.D. At the decline of the empire, the
Goths, Huns, Bulgars, and Avars invaded. The Bulgars, who crossed the Danube from the
north in 679, took control of the region. Although the country bears the name of the Bulgars,
the Bulgar language and culture died out, replaced by a Slavic language, writing, and religion.
In 865, Boris I adopted Orthodox Christianity. The Bulgars twice conquered most of the
Balkan peninsula between 893 and 1280. But in 1396 they were invaded by the Ottoman
Empire, which made Bulgaria a Turkish province until 1878. Ottoman rule was harsh and
inescapable, given Bulgaria's proximity to its oppressor. In 1878, Russia forced Turkey to give
Bulgaria its independence after the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). But the European
powers, fearing Russia's and Bulgaria's dominance in the Balkans, intervened at the
Congress of Berlin (1878), limiting Bulgaria's territory and fashioning it into a small principality
ruled by Alexander of Battenburg, the nephew of the Russian czar.
Alexander was succeeded in 1887 by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who declared
a kingdom independent of the Ottoman Empire on Oct. 5, 1908. In the First Balkan War
(1912–1913), Bulgaria and the other members of the Balkan League fought against Turkey to
regain Balkan territory. Angered by the small portion of Macedonia it received after the
battle—it considered Macedonia an integral part of Bulgaria—the country instigated the
Second Balkan War (June–Aug. 1913) against Turkey as well as its former allies. Bulgaria
lost the war and all the territory it had gained in the First Balkan War. Bulgaria joined
Germany in World War I in the hope of again gaining Macedonia. After this second failure,
Ferdinand abdicated in favor of his son in 1918. Boris III squandered Bulgaria's resources
and assumed dictatorial powers in 1934–1935. Bulgaria fought on the side of the Nazis in
World War II, but after Russia declared war on Bulgaria on Sept. 5, 1944, Bulgaria switched
sides. Three days later, on Sept. 9, 1944, a Communist coalition took control of the country
and set up a government under Kimon Georgiev.
A Soviet-style People's Republic was established in 1947 and Bulgaria acquired the
reputation of being the most slavishly loyal to Moscow of all the East European Communist
countries. The general secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Todor Zhikov, resigned in
1989 after 35 years in power. His successor, Peter Mladenov, purged the Politburo, ended
the Communist monopoly on power, and held free elections in May 1990 that led to a
surprising victory for the Communist Party, renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).
Mladenov was forced to resign in July 1990.
In Oct. 1991, the Union of Democratic Forces won, forming Bulgaria's first non-Communist
government since 1946. Power shifted back and forth between the pro-Western Union of
Democratic Forces (UDF) and the BSP during the 1990s. The economy continued to
deteriorate amid growing concern over the spread of organized crime. A new UDF
government, led by Prime Minister Ivan Kostov, was elected in 1997 to overhaul the economic
system and institute reforms aimed at stemming corruption. Progress on both fronts remained
slow. As a result, the UDF lost the July 2001 election to the former king of Bulgaria, leader of
the Simeon II National Movement (SNM). The new prime minister, Simeon Saxe-CoburgGotha (Simeon II), had been dethroned 55 years earlier (at age nine) during the Communist
takeover of the country. Bulgaria became a member of NATO in 2004. In 2005, the EU
approved its membership for 2007, subject to the implementation of reforms, especially the
cleaning up of corruption and organized crime.
In June 2005 general elections, no party received a clear majority, and a coalition government
was formed with Socialist Party leader Sergei Stanishev as the new prime minister.
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bu.html
http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/bulgaria.htm
Question 3
Bulgaria (Republic of)
Capital: Sofia
Official language: Bulgarian
Government: Parliamentary democracy
President: Georgi Parvanov
Independence: From the Ottoman Empire
Founded 681
Christianized 865
Gained autonomy March 3, 1878
Declared October 5, 1908
Population: 7,726,000
Accession to EU: January 1, 2007
Bulgaria and the EU
History (*)
Bulgaria established diplomatic relations with the EU in 1988. In 1993, the European
agreement on association was signed before entering into force in 1995. In December
1995, Sofia submitted its application for EU membership, and two years later
preliminary negotiations were launched.
The Commission presented its first regular report on Bulgaria's progress towards
accession in November 1998. The second report, released in 1999, recommended that
formal negotiations be opened.
Accession negotiations between Bulgaria and the EU started on 15 February 2000.
Sofia concluded its accession talks on 15 June 2004, six months ahead of schedule.
The technical closure of talks on the final two negotiating chapters had been
completed on 14 June 2004. The country's aim has been to join the EU as a full
member on 1 January 2007.
Under its mid-2004 agreement with the EU,
Bulgaria will receive 240 million euro on top of the previously announced funding of
4.4 billion euro from the EU's 2007-2009 budget.
In April 2005, the European
Parliament gave its overwhelming support to Bulgaria's EU bid. On 25 April 2005,
Sofia signed the country's EU Accession Treaty, which was ratified by parliament on
11 May.
In October 2005, the Commission's monitoring report said that Sofia must serve six
months of further probation and until April or May 2006 it must "take immediate and
decisive corrective action" in the fields of judiciary reform and fighting high-level
corruption.
In the next monitoring report, dated 16 May 2006, the
Commission confirmed that Bulgaria has continuously been fulfilling the political
criteria laid down in Copenhagen, and that the country was a functioning market
economy. At the same time, on account of a total of six policy areas which continue to
give rise to "serious concern," the Commission decided to review Bulgaria's reform
progress in October 2006 and to decide based on that review whether the originally
scheduled January 2007 accession date was still feasible.
In its final
monitoring report on 26 September 2006, the Commission gave its green light for
Bulgarian accession in 2007, but insisted on further reforms. If the requirements are
not met, the Commission can invoke safeguard measures, which could lead to the
suspension of funds.
Cultural factors
Bulgarians are rather pro European. According to sociological polls 65% to 70% of
Bulgarians support the adhesion to the EU. This high level is kept thanks to positive
changes in the country which is reflected on the way of life and the prospect of
Bulgarians.
Bulgaria is also an active member of NATO. Bulgaria capitalizes on strategic
partnership with the United States. Bulgaria and the United States signed a Defence
Cooperation agreement that prioritized Bulgaria’s promotion as reliable partner in
NATO and the other international organizations, the modernization of the Bulgarian
Armed Forces and dynamic development of the Bulgarian economy.
The country is a member of the UN since 1955, and a founding member of the OSCE.
The country is a member of the WTO since 1 December 1996.
The country is a member of the CEFTA since 1 January 1999.
The country signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Trade Liberalisation and
Facilitation in South East Europe (2004).
Attitude to the New Constitution (**)
Supports the European Constitution. Believes the Constitutional Treaty would help
make the Union more efficient, democratic and understandable to its citizens. Text
responds to the challenges both of EU enlargement and of globalisation.
Bulgaria ratified the Constitution. Approval by the National Parliament, through the
act of ratification of the Accession Treaty which refers to the Constitution.
(***)
Parliament
Bulgaria
Date
Result
May 11th,
Yes. 231 voices for, 1
2005
against.
Signature of the head of state
Signed
The main contribution of Bulgaria to the EU will be its cultural heritage, its
experience in the Balkans and a skilled labour.
*http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/eu-bulgaria-relations/article-129603
**http://www.fornet.info/CFSPannualreports2005/CFSP%20WATCH%202005
%20Bulgaria.pdf
***http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_establishing_a_Constitution_for_Europe
Question 4
Strength
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Emission decreased
Emissions still very high
Finance support through the EU
old cars
Draft waste law prepared
Low air quality
justice help through the EU
no use of filters in industry
contol of poll. in highly poll. ind.
plants
Pollution laws drafted but not
enacted
admnisistration help through the
EU
wrong attitude of the
population
creation of the nation's first
environ. policy
no fines on polution
training assistance through EU
no public participation
decrees on waste import
weak monitoring systems
technical assistance through EU
no waste management
improving the policy framework
wateful industry
strength to ratify the Basel const.
corruption
strengthenign of institutions
no regulatory system
encourage of recycling
contamination of soil/
groundwater
more than 1000 environmental
projects in the last years
uncontrolled municipal landfills
protected areas/ 4.5% of the land
little attention to environmental
issues by the government
shortage of landfill capacity
Int. finance support
co-operation among
organizations are lacking
industrial waste mixed with
municipal one
improve public awareness
laws not adopted
no use of existing recycling
facilities
information campaigns
weak institutional capacity
environmental expenditure
1.3% of GDP
education programms
wead intergovernmental
coordination
control expenditure 1% of GDP
introduce of int.recognised
concepts into domestic
legislation
Fell of GDP of 24%
continue co- operative efforts
little finance ressources for
environment
According to the Ministry of “Environment and Water” in Bulgaria, the national
strategy for the next years should be “the preservation of the of the quality of the
environment in the environmentally clean areas of the country, as well as improving
of the conditions in the damaged and contaminated regions.”
Therefore an Environmental Strategy was developed, which crucial point was the
implementation of it in the Bulgarian national law.
But also the improvement of the public awareness, concerning waste, and its
participation in the improvement process was necessary for the development of the
Bulgarian waste policy.
The main challenge for the policy now is to create all necessary conditions for the full
implementation of the EU regulations (which you can see below).
This implementation will cost a lot of time and experience and so the Bulgarian
government is dependent on the help of the EU, in financial as well as in theoretically
points of view.
Overview of the realization of Directive 94/62/EC in
Bulgaria
Because Bulgaria is one of the new EU members, becoming member state just in
2007, it has a forgiven frame to fulfil Directive 94/62/EC. The latest date to fulfil all
regulations is given as the year 2013. The exact fulfilment of the directive is given as
followed.
Bulgaria shall attain the overall rate for recovery or incineration at waste incineration
plants with energy recovery by 31 December 2014 in accordance with the following
intermediate targets:
– 50% by weight for 2011, 53% for 2012 and 56% for 2013.
Bulgaria shall attain the recycling target for plastics by 31 December 2009 in
accordance with the following intermediate targets:
– 8% by weight by 31 December 2006, 12% for 2007, and 14,5% for 2008.
Bulgaria shall attain the overall recycling target by 31 December 2014 in accordance
with the following intermediate targets:
– 34% by weight by 31 December 2006, 38% for 2007, 42% for 2008, 45%
for 2009,
47% for 2010, 49% for 2011, 52% for 2012 and 54,9% for 2013.
Bulgaria shall attain the recycling target for glass by 31 December 2013 in
accordance with the following intermediate targets:
– 26% by weight by 31 December 2006, 33% for 2007, 40% for 2008, 46%
for 2009,
51% for 2010, 55% for 2011 and 59,6% for 2012.
Bulgaria shall attain the recycling target for plastics, counting exclusively material
that is recycled back into plastics, by 31 December 2013 in accordance with the
following intermediate targets:
–
17% by weight for 2009, 19% for 2010, 20% for 2011 and 22% for 2012.
These are just the exact steps, how Bulgaria has to fulfil, the Directive.
As a small summarize:
There are a lot of steps within the Bulgarian government in order to improve the
waste policy. So there are a lot of new laws. But as you can see above, it will need a
long time (7 years) to come near to the European Standard. And as a very important
point, the sense of the citizens in question of the waste policy must completely be
changed.
So it is necessary, that the EU will help Bulgaria, on the one hand financial and on the
other hand with advices, in order to reach the given targets in the Directive.
Sources:



COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Brussels, 13.11.2002
COM(2002) 624 final
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Roadmaps for Bulgaria and Romania
Accession Protocol Bulgaria
ISPA Strategy for Environment - Bulgaria