Series:Center for the Study of Democracy - CSD Policy Briefs

CSD Policy Brief No. 31: Antimafia – The Italian Experience in Fighting Organised Crime

CSD Policy Brief No. 31: Антимафия: Опитът на Италия в противодействието на организираната престъпност

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

In recent decades the Italian authorities implemented a number of measures and policies as a direct response to the threat of organized crime. These new measures were intended to expand the scope and the number of law enforcement and judicial instruments and were an attempt to complement the conventional approaches, which were no longer effective in light of the persisting mafia influence against public institutions. This is why the Italian experience is specifically valuable for countries like Bulgaria, which are vulnerable to corruption and organized crime.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 32: Reinstating the Duty-Free Trade at Bulgarian Land Borders: Potential Setback in the Fight Against Organized Crime and Corruption

CSD Policy Brief No. 32: Възстановяване на безмитната търговия по сухопътните граници: крачка назад в противодействието на организираната престъпност и корупцията

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

Since the early 1990s the duty-free shops along Bulgaria’s land-border crossings were used as a channel for illegal import of excise goods (cigarettes, alcohol and petrol). With the increase of excise and VAT taxes in the second-half of the 1990s, the risk of alcohol and cigarettes smuggling increased rapidly. The duty-free shops gradually evolved into one of the main channels for the smuggling of cigarettes, alcohol, and fuel. At that period, duty free operators existed without a legal regulation but only with a licensing permit from the Minister of Finance. The smuggling was tacitly tolerated from the highest political level.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 33: Management and Disposal of Confiscated Criminal Assets

CSD Policy Brief No. 33: Управление и разпореждане с отнети имущества, придобити от престъпна дейност

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

Confiscation of proceeds from illegal activities is a widely applied mechanism in combating organized crime. The introduction and application of this mechanism is defined in several international and European acts, and is motivated by the need to restore social justice. Both the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the UN Convention against Corruption address the disposal of confiscated assets and recommend its use primarily for compensating the victims of crime. A number of European countries have implemented respective measures and mechanisms like: distribution schemes for compensation of victims of crime, financing of programs for fight against drug use, social re-use of confiscated property.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 35: Corruption and Anti-Corruption in Bulgaria (2011-2012)

CSD Policy Brief No. 35: Корупция и антикорупция в България (2011-2012)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The data on the dynamics of corruption used in the current report are the result of the Corruption Monitoring System (CMS), designed and developed by the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) and Vitosha Research. CMS combines significant research and powerful anticorruption advocacy potential. The purpose of CMS is to measure the actual level and trends in the spread of corruption in the country, as well as to identify related public attitudes and expectations. After an improvement in 2010, the level of administrative corruption among the population increased in 2011 – 2012, still placing the country in the group of EU Member States experiencing high levels of corruption. The average monthly number of corruption transactions in 2011 was approximately 150,000. In 2011, a quarter of all citizens who dealt with the state administration had to resort to some kind of irregular payment to receive administrative services. This indicates that corruption is a systemic problem of the Bulgarian society.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 36: Educational integration of refugee and asylum-seeking children: the situation of Bulgaria and the experience of other European countries

CSD Policy Brief No. 36: Образователната интеграция на деца бежанци и търсещи убежище: ситуацията в България и опитът на други европейски страни

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

This analysis represents the results of a specialised study of the educational integration of refugee and asylum-seeking children (RASC) in the Member States of the European Union, conducted in 2011 by the Center for the Study of Democracy within the framework on the INTEGRACE project. With regard to Bulgaria, the main approaches, mechanisms and deficiencies in the system for educational integration of RASC were presented and recommendations for its improvement were given.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 37: The Hidden Economy in Bulgaria: 2011 – 2012

CSD Policy Brief No. 37: Скритата икономика в България: 2011 – 2012 г.

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The deep penetration of hidden economic activities in Greece and other peripheral Eurozone members – a development which is at the epicenter of the continuing Eurozone debt crisis, has demonstrated that accurate understanding of the dynamics of the hidden economy is essential for improving public and private sector management. In the case of Bulgaria, an assessment of the hidden economy is an issue of particular importance as the country is facing serious challenges in all of its aspects – gray, black and informal economy. It is even more pressing in the light of the country’s current low level of competitiveness and its aspirations for participation in the European stability and sustainable growth initiatives such as Europe 2020 and the Euro-Plus Pact. The hidden economy in Bulgaria has decreased in 2011 – 2012 among both businesses and the population. Yet, the registered gains are modest. Deep structural labor market problems and long-term business environment issues continue to constitute favorable conditions for the development of hidden economic activities in Bulgaria.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 38: Improving policy and programs for assistance and reintegration of child victims of trafficking in Bulgaria

CSD Policy Brief No. 38: Подобряване на политиката и програмите за подпомагане и реинтеграция на деца – жертви на трафик в България

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

This brief presents the main conclusions related to Bulgaria from a comparative study of support programs and reintegration of children - victims of trafficking in the six member states of the European Union, conducted in 2011 and 2012. The survey was carried out by the Center for the Study of Democracy within the project ARECHIVIC in collaboration with partner organisations from Austria, Italy, Slovakia, Hungary and Sweden. With regard to Bulgaria the main approaches, mechanisms and deficiencies in policies and programs for the reintegration of children - victims of trafficking are presented and some recommendations for their improvement are suggested.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 39: The Bulgarian Economy: Competitiveness 2013

CSD Policy Brief No. 39: Българската икономика: Конкурентоспособност 2013

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

In 2013, Bulgaria is one of the countries that have seen a decline in their competitiveness according to IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY). The country is ranked at 57th position – 3 places below the position achieved in 2012 – 54th. This is the lowest ranking of Bulgaria since its inclusion in the yearbook in 2006 and it is almost 20 places lower than its highest achievement in 2009 – 38th place. In 2013, only 3 countries lag behind Bulgaria in the IMD ranking – Croatia, Argentina and Venezuela and all of them ranked lower than Bulgaria in the previous edition of the yearbook, as well. Countries like Greece and Ukraine both of which ranked below Bulgaria in WCY 2012 move up to 54th and 49th respectively. There are no significant changes in the ‘winners’ trend in WCY 2013. The USA has regained the No.1 position due to a rebounding financial sector, an abundance of technological innovation and successful companies. The 5 main challenges which Bulgaria faces in improving its competitiveness are: • Modernise public administration to increase evidence-based efficiency and regulatory quality; • Reduce administrative costs and provide EU funded incentives for innovation and entrepreneurship; • Strengthen the judiciary to tackle corruption and reduce business uncertainty; • Reform the governance of the energy sector to preserve cost competitiveness, diversify gas supply, and improve energy efficiency; • Tackle hidden economy and related labour market inefficiencies.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 40: Bulgaria's Energy Security Risk Index

CSD Policy Brief No. 40: Индекс на рисковете за енергийната сигурност на България

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

Energy security is of critical importance to Bulgaria. The biggest identified threat to Bulgarian national security is poverty, and in particular energy poverty. Bulgaria’s non-transparent energy sector seriously undermines the country’s economic development. Establishing regular sound monitoring mechanisms on energy security could be key for adequate policy-making in the area. The Index of U.S. Energy Security Risk Indicator (IESRI), developed in 2012 by the Institute for 21st Century Energy at the American Chamber of Commerce shows that since 1980, Bulgaria has had one of the worst energy security risk index scores both nominally and compared to the OECD averages and was ranked in 73rd place in 2012. Its scores over the period averaged about 158% higher than those for the OECD. Bulgaria’s energy security risk index increased since 2010. This recent deterioration relative to OECD averages is based on the energy expenditure volatility of the Bulgarian economy that according to IESRI has increased more than 10 times in the last 3 years (since 2009), reaching in 2012 one of the highest levels since 1980). Among the main risk factors to Bulgaria’s energy security is its high dependence on fossil fuels import, in particular in the gas sector. The very high concentration of the Bulgarian gas market (monopoly of supply and distribution) provides ample opportunities for rent-seeking. Bulgaria’s involvement in various national, smaller regional, and large international projects can reduce the risks to its energy security if it is based on clear-cut prioritization of preferred options following sound and transparent cost-benefit analysis.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 41: Crime trends 2012 – 2013

CSD Policy Brief No. 41: Динамика на конвенционалната престъпност 2012 – 2013 г.

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

In 2012 there was a sharp increase in both the number of victims and the number of crimes compared to 2011. These trends take place in the context of a 10-year drop in crime rates. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) statistics of registered crimes in 2012 showed the opposite trend - a 6% drop from 114,781 in 2011 to 107,828 registered crimes in 2012. This difference is explained by the rising level of unregistered crimes that are not part of the official statistics. Victims of crime in South Central and South Eastern regions of the country are least likely to report crimes to the police. These areas are also characterized by high levels of crime victimisation.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 42: The Hidden Economy in Bulgaria in 2013

CSD Policy Brief No. 42: Скритата икономика в България през 2013 г.

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

Accurate understanding of the dynamics of the hidden economy is essential for improving public and private sector management. In the case of Bulgaria, the high level of hidden economic activities signals many deficiencies in the functioning of the public institutions and the rule of law, and undermines the economic development of the country. Limiting the grey economy ought to be an issue of imminent priority for policy makers. The recent unparalleled global growth of digitalization of economic activities provides ample opportunities to reduce hidden cash flows and directly contribute to positive economic development of the country. Comprehensive, sustained reforms focusing on improvements in market and administrative efficiency are needed to facilitate the process of economic convergence and limit the negative effects of the hidden economy in Bulgaria.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 43: Corruption and Anti-corruption in Bulgaria (2012 - 2013)

CSD Policy Brief No. 43: Корупция и антикорупция в България (2012 – 2013 г.)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The corruption trends indices for Bulgaria in 2013 are calculated through the Corruption Monitoring System (CMS) developed by the Center for the Study of Democracy and Vitosha Research. The results show that administrative corruption among the population in Bulgaria over the past two years remains practically unchanged. On average, over the period 2012 – 2013, 14% of the adult population has been involved in corruption transactions at least once per year.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 44: The Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy 2014

CSD Policy Brief No. 44: Конкурентоспособност на българската икономика: 2014 г.

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

In 2014 Bulgaria regained one position compared to the previous year in the economic competitiveness ranking of the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY), published by the Institute for Management Development (IMD). The country is ranked 56th, while in 2013 it was 57th out of 60 economies. This is only a marginal improvement, and remains significantly lower compared its highest achievement in 2009 – 38th place. In 2014, Bulgaria is ranked higher than Croatia, Argentina and Venezuela as in 2013, and has surpassed its Southern neighbor Greece, which has fallen to 57th place, 3 places lower than 2013. There are no significant changes among the most competitive nations in 2014. The USA continues to hold the 1st position, as its economy is successfully recovering from the crisis thanks to a favorable business environment, characterized by a strong R&D culture and abundance of skilled labor as well as to a more accommodating policy stance in providing financial stimuli and lowering energy prices.The Center for the Study of Democracy has identified five key challenges, which hinder the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy: • Introduce public administration reforms, and more and better e-government services; • Initiate performance-based financing of education; • Reduce energy security risks through energy efficiency and diversification of supply sources and technologies; • Improve regulatory control and compliance quality; • Tackle high level corruption and market capture.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 46: Corruption and Anti-Corruption in Bulgaria (2013 – 2014)

CSD Policy Brief No. 46: Корупция и антикорупция в България (2013 – 2014 г.)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The policy brief makes an overview of the levels of corruption and the impact of corruption on the societal sectors. In 2014, the Corruption Monitoring System has recorded the highest levels of involvement of the Bulgarian population in corruption transactions in the last 15 years. In the past year Bulgarians have conceded to being involved on average in roughly 158 thousand corruption transactions monthly. Most corruption transactions have been initiated by the administration through exerting corruption pressure on those seeking public services. The public’s susceptibility to corruption in 2014 is similar to 1999 despite the increase of intolerance to corrupt behaviour. In the business sector corruption’s effectiveness for solving problems has grown in 2014. Most companies do not trust public organisations and do not consider they are treated equally in courts.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 47: EU and NATO's role in tackling energy security and state capture risks in Europe

CSD Policy Brief No. 47: Ролята на ЕС и НАТО за решаване на проблема с рисковете за енергийната сигурност и завладяването на държавата в Европа

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The Crimean crisis and the continuing instability in Eastern Ukraine have turned into a rude wake up call for Europe’s energy security vulnerabilities. Russia has demonstrated its capacity to yield political and economic influence on the countries in the CEE and the Black Sea regions by leveraging its dominant position on their energy markets. Russia has pressured governments to support its flagship project, South Stream, at the expense of the countries’ long-term strategy to diversify their natural gas supply and in defiance of EU’s strategy for building a liberalised common market. Since the beginning of the crisis the EU and NATO have scrambled for finding the right measures to a balanced response to Russia’s growing assertiveness, while striving to alleviate the most acute energy security risks for their members.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 48: Anti-corruption measures in law-enforcement institutions

CSD Policy Brief No. 48: Антикорупционни мерки в правоохранителните институции

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

In countries with endemic corruption, integrity reforms can only be successful if anti-corruption institutions succeed in tackling internal corruption challenges. A sharp decline of corruption in law enforcement would provide society with the necessary tools to pursue tangible change. The experience of established democracies is that a successful transformation depends not simply on individual measures but rather on the introduction of sets of effective anti-corruption measures across the entire public administration. Corruption among lawenforcement officers has been viewed with an increasing concern by the authorities and the public in many European states. As a result, while no common approach has ever been tested with respect to the judiciary, elected politicians or the customs, countering police corruption has become an all-European effort. During the last decade, several European countries developed multi-institutional systems for police integrity. On EU level, platforms like the European Partners against Corruption (EPAC) were introduced, enabling specialised anti-corruption institutions to cooperate and share experience. In addition, Europol, Interpol and the UN developed and shared the blueprints of common standards and good practices in preventing police corruption.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 55: The Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy 2015

CSD Policy Brief No. 55: Конкурентоспособността на българската икономика 2015

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

In 2015 Bulgaria has regained one position compared to the previous year in the economic competitiveness ranking of the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY), published by the Institute for Management Development (IMD). The country is ranked 55th out of 61 economies. This is only a marginal improvement and remains significantly lower compared to its highest achievement in 2009 – 38th place. The ranking highlights two particular commonalities among the best ranking countries. Firstly, nine countries from the top 10 are also listed in the top 10 of the business efficiency factor. And secondly, all top positions are occupied by economies which are driven by innovation-based growth. In the policy brief the Center for the Study of Democracy provides the following recommendations for increasing the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy: • Tackle high level corruption and state capture; • Modernize public administration and strengthen independent regulators; • Adopt education for innovation-based growth; • Tackle energy poverty, energy intensity and supply dependency; • Improve the country’s branding.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 57: Regional Media in Bulgaria: The Limits of Survival

CSD Policy Brief No. 57: Регионалните медии в България: граници на оцеляването

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The lack of adequate local media is a trend with devastating implications for the regions of Bulgaria. It affects not only the local public institutions; regional economic activity is also hindered by the absence of independent media. At the same time, when discussing the state of media in Bulgaria, the problems of local media are often overlooked. The current publication presents the results of a survey of 179 local media with internet presence. The analysis focused on the mechanisms and factors that prevent journalists and the media from informing the public in an objective, competent, and comprehensive way.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 58: Transparent Governance for Greater Energy Security in CEE

CSD Policy Brief No. 58: Прозрачно управление и енергийна сигурност в Централна и Източна Европа

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The national and regional energy security of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries has become a hot topic of discussion in the EU recently, focusing the attention of experts, policy makers, and the general public on ongoing and future energy projects but also on the features of energy governance in these countries. The interruption of gas supplies to Europe as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian pricing dispute in 2009, the continuing Russian-Ukrainian crisis after the annexation of Crimea, and the EU-Russia controversies regarding the South Stream pipeline project, as well as Gazprom’s non-compliance with the EU regulations in several anti-trust cases in the past few years are the major cornerstones that shape the CEE energy security framework and policy options as the region remains heavily dependent on Russian oil, gas, and nuclear technology. At the same time, the fragile democratic traditions in the CEE countries, the existing networks of political protectionism and economic oligarchy, and the opaque business practices nurtured by corruption and links with organized crime, have been reinforced by the negative implications of Russian economic and geo-political influence. Russia has exploited its dominant position in the energy market and its long-term links with certain political and economic groups to shape political decisions across the region according to its own interests, but often to the detriment of the home country consumers. The current review of energy security risks in four selected CEE countries, two energy poor – Bulgaria and Serbia, and two energy-resourced– Romania and Ukraine, assesses the factual situation per se and the transparency and accountability of energy policy governance in the region.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 58: Transparent Governance for Greater Energy Security in CEE

CSD Policy Brief No. 58: ПРОЗРАЧНОЕ УПРАВЛЕНИЕ И ЭНЕРГОБЕЗОПАСНОСТЬ В ЦЕНТРАЛЬНОЙ И ВОСТОЧНОЙ ЕВРОПЕ

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Russian

The national and regional energy security of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries has become a hot topic of discussion in the EU recently, focusing the attention of experts, policy makers, and the general public on ongoing and future energy projects but also on the features of energy governance in these countries. The interruption of gas supplies to Europe as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian pricing dispute in 2009, the continuing Russian-Ukrainian crisis after the annexation of Crimea, and the EU-Russia controversies regarding the South Stream pipeline project, as well as Gazprom’s non-compliance with the EU regulations in several anti-trust cases in the past few years are the major cornerstones that shape the CEE energy security framework and policy options as the region remains heavily dependent on Russian oil, gas, and nuclear technology. At the same time, the fragile democratic traditions in the CEE countries, the existing networks of political protectionism and economic oligarchy, and the opaque business practices nurtured by corruption and links with organized crime, have been reinforced by the negative implications of Russian economic and geo-political influence. Russia has exploited its dominant position in the energy market and its long-term links with certain political and economic groups to shape political decisions across the region according to its own interests, but often to the detriment of the home country consumers. The current review of energy security risks in four selected CEE countries, two energy poor – Bulgaria and Serbia, and two energy-resourced– Romania and Ukraine, assesses the factual situation per se and the transparency and accountability of energy policy governance in the region.

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