On January 1^st Bulgaria and Romania celebrated a decade as EU member-states. Yesterday an EC spokesperson greeted both countries, saying that they were now vital members of the union. Due to the political crisis or something else Bulgaria didn’t pull out the fireworks on the event and EurActiv determined that as a sign of the outdating of the EU‘s expansion. At the same time sociological surveys show that the Bulgarians still remain Euro-optimistic though their initial enthusiasm has cooled down a bit. According to Gallup International Bulgaria remains one of the most pro-EU countries, as only 26% of the Bulgarians would vote for stepping out of the union end-2016. However, that number was only 18% in 2015 and perhaps that shows some hesitation.

A decade after its EU accession Bulgaria is more stable and prosperous for sure. Now its citizens can travel freely not only as tourists, but also as workers or students. Eurostat marks that over the past decade the GDP has increased from 28.7 bln. /2007/ to 45 bln. euros in 2016. In 2007 the GDP per capita was 41% of what was average for Europe and now it is almost 50%. The minimum wage has gone up from 46 to 236 euros and the average one grew from 205 to 483 euros. According to Eurobarometer polls 36% of the Bulgarians said they were happy with their life in 2007 and today 51% say so. Still, Bulgaria remains the poorest EU country and 5 out of its 6 regions are among the least developed in the community. There is no other EU member-state with lower GDP per capita, lower labor productivity, competitiveness etc. alongside the least satisfactory social, economic, environmental, demographic, institutional and other indexes, to say nothing about corruption. Ten years after its accession Bulgaria is still a subject to monitoring by the EC in the justice and home affairs sphere. Both statistics and sociology show real successes that are relative at the same time. The Bulgarians know that this is due mainly to the actions of national and not European politicians and institutions and the convincingly low ratings of the parliament and government come to prove that.

The failed expectations for a rapid progress after the EU accession are related mostly to economic factors, but other circumstances are also a basis for skepticism and disappointment. For instance, on the decade day Bulgaria was the first and only EU member without its own representative at the EC, as its former Vice President Kristalina Georgieva resigned and now works for the World Bank. Due to the political crisis a new Bulgarian applicant for a European commissioner position can be nominated no earlier than the end of this month when the newly elected President Rumen Radev shall appoint a caretaker government. It is also likely that the nomination will be postponed till the forming of a new regular government in the spring. Then there will be barely 6 months till the start of the initial Bulgarian EU presidency in 2018 which causes some doubts about the abilities for a good preparation for such a big challenge. However, politicians still have the time to prove it groundless.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev