Bulgaria’s Initial Experiences of EU Membership
Bulgaria’s Initial Experiences of EU Membership

Summary/Abstract: Following the systemic transformation, and in line with all other Central and South Eastern European members of the former Soviet empire (including the Baltic states), Bulgaria started to reorient its political and economic priorities towards the European Union in the early 1990s. Its main goal was to become a full-fledged member of the “European family” within a historically short period of time. In this context, the country negotiated and signed an Association Agreement (Europe Agreement) with Brussels and the then 15 EU member countries in 1995. As a result, most bilateral trade was freed of any barriers and Bulgaria started to take on and implement EU rules in various areas of economic regulation. Shortly after putting the two-level association treaty in place (the first ratified by the European Parliament, and the second by all member states plus Bulgaria), Bulgaria applied for membership.[...]

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