Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables, Figures and Maps
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreciations
- INTRODUCTION: The Europeanization of Bulgarian Society: A Long-Lasting Political Project
- CHAPTER ONE Institution-Building, Political Culture and Identity in Bulgaria: The Challenge of ‘Europeanization’
- CHAPTER TWO Appropriations of Bulgarian Literature in the West: From Pencho Slaveikov to Iordan Iovkov
- CHAPTER THREE Communism and Cold War in Bulgaria: The Absence of Europe?
- CHAPTER FOUR Bulgarian Turks During the Transition Period
- CHAPTER FIVE Women's Identity and Social Policy in Bulgaria Before and After 1989
- CHAPTER SIX Legal Status and Migrant Economic Performance: The Case of Bulgarians in Spain and Greece
- CHAPTER SEVEN Bulgaria's Path to EU Membership – and Beyond
- CHAPTER EIGHT Accession into the Euro-Atlantic Institutions: Effects on Bulgaria's Balkan Policy(-ies)
- CHAPTER NINE Mirroring Gazes: Europe, Nationalism and Change in the Field of Bulgarian Art and Culture
- CHAPTER TEN The Emergence of Regional Policy in Bulgaria and the Role of the EU
- EPILOGUE
- Appendix I Tables, Figures and Maps
- Notes
- List of Contributors
CHAPTER SEVEN - Bulgaria's Path to EU Membership – and Beyond
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables, Figures and Maps
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreciations
- INTRODUCTION: The Europeanization of Bulgarian Society: A Long-Lasting Political Project
- CHAPTER ONE Institution-Building, Political Culture and Identity in Bulgaria: The Challenge of ‘Europeanization’
- CHAPTER TWO Appropriations of Bulgarian Literature in the West: From Pencho Slaveikov to Iordan Iovkov
- CHAPTER THREE Communism and Cold War in Bulgaria: The Absence of Europe?
- CHAPTER FOUR Bulgarian Turks During the Transition Period
- CHAPTER FIVE Women's Identity and Social Policy in Bulgaria Before and After 1989
- CHAPTER SIX Legal Status and Migrant Economic Performance: The Case of Bulgarians in Spain and Greece
- CHAPTER SEVEN Bulgaria's Path to EU Membership – and Beyond
- CHAPTER EIGHT Accession into the Euro-Atlantic Institutions: Effects on Bulgaria's Balkan Policy(-ies)
- CHAPTER NINE Mirroring Gazes: Europe, Nationalism and Change in the Field of Bulgarian Art and Culture
- CHAPTER TEN The Emergence of Regional Policy in Bulgaria and the Role of the EU
- EPILOGUE
- Appendix I Tables, Figures and Maps
- Notes
- List of Contributors
Summary
Bulgaria joined the EU on 1 January 2007, together with its northern neighbour, Romania. Both countries' roads to membership were far from easy. A plethora of political, socioeconomic and institutional problems prevented them from acceding to the Union in the first wave of eastern enlargement on 1 May 2004. Bulgaria's progress, in particular, was hampered by sluggish economic transformation in the 1990s as well as the weakness of state agencies in charge of implementing the EU entry criteria. Reforms in critical areas such as the judicial system and the fight against corruption, often produced limited results due to internal opposition, lack of political will or institutional inertia. The salience of these domestic constraints has induced analysts to question the extent to which the EU actually managed to mend the gap between the state and the citizenry marking Bulgarian transition. In addition, certain actors within the EU viewed sceptically the country's preparedness for membership, pointing at the shortcomings in the fight against organized crime and corruption.
At the same time, it is hard to deny that Bulgaria came a long way since the early 1990s. The EU accession perspective catalysed reforms, bringing about sustained economic growth and increasing the governance capacity of the state. While it will be inaccurate to give exclusive credit to Europe for steering the Bulgarian transition from communism, its influence was decisive in areas such as the liberalization of the economy, the modernization of state institutions and society, and, to a lesser extent, the consolidation of democracy.
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- Bulgaria and EuropeShifting Identities, pp. 113 - 128Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2010
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