Bulgaria in European integration process

Abstract

The paper analyzes economic indicators and some of the peculiarities of Bulgaria’s, one of the EU member states, economic development. Historical and contemporary aspects of Bulgaria are presented in the paper. It is concluded that Bulgaria’s economic performance and economic situation have significantly improved over the past 14 years. Overall, the country has made significant progress. The further goals of the country are to join the Shengen zone and the eurozone. Communist domination of the former People’s Republic of Bulgaria ended in 1990. Bulgaria applied for membership of the European Union on 18 December 1995. After the collapse of the socialist system, economic reforms and a large-scale fight against corruption began in Bulgaria. Joining the European Union became the country’s top foreign priority. Romania became a member of the Central European Free Trade Association (1997), NATO (2004) and the European Union (2007). Thus, Bulgaria found its place alongside the European states and joined the EU single family. It is worth mentioning that there is still a difference between the economic indicators of old European Union countries and of Bulgaria and Romania; however, the tendency is that the gap between their development levels is decreasing. Bulgaria’s GDP increased from $ 34.4 billion in 2006 to $69.1.5 billion in 2020 and GDP per capita increased from $4523 to $ 9975. Other economic performance indicators of Romania have also improved. Bulgaria accounts for 1.28% of EU GDP. Intra-EU trade accounts for 69% of Bulgaria’s exports, while outside the EU 8% go to Turkey and 3% to China. In terms of imports, 64% come from EU Member States, while outside the EU 10% come from Russia and 6% from Turkey. It should be noted that trade and economic relations between Georgia and Bulgaria are dynamically developing. Bulgaria strongly supports Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes. Romania is the first EU member state which ratified the Association Agreements between Georgia and the EU.