The global financial crisis that hit Europe has revealed some flaws in the very functioning of the European Union – poor coordination among member-states and lack of control in the financial field. Hence the question – will EU survive? – asked by Prof. Georgi Karasimeonov during a roundtable on ‘The crisis in Europe and the challenges to Bulgaria’ organized jointly by the Institute for Political and Legal Research and Friedrich Ebert Foundation. According to him, Bulgaria has to have a clear position on the future enlargement of EU and on the extent of liberty of each member state to set their budgets.
“One of the conclusions is that Bulgaria has to have full transparency in its economic and budget policies,” says Prof. Karasimeonov. “All attempts at absorbing EU funds the Bulgarian way and by avoiding the Maastricht criteria will have its consequences. The very first unclear points about the exact figure of the state deficit have prompted EU to send its Eurostat delegation to check matters on the ground. At present, the weaknesses in the economic policies of the current government are the lack of criteria and priorities as to how to form a future budget in times of ongoing economic crisis, and not just any future budget but one compliant with all European standards. So far, our policies have been very messy and only focused to cutting spending. Searching for those sectors of the economy that are able to pull the country out of the crisis as well as encouraging entrepreneurship has remained to the background. One of the clear-cut conclusions for the present situation of Bulgaria should be precisely this: comprehensible economic policies harmonized with those of EU, not mere filling in of the gaps but increasing productivity and thereof stimulating the Bulgarian economy.”
In times of crisis, consensus on the main points of the anti-crisis measures is needed and not confrontation among institutions. Only then can the county have a good image to foreign investors, says Prof. Karasimeonov categorically.
According to Prof. Petar-Emil Mitev, the crisis in Europe will ultimately lead to better control within the union. The challenge for Bulgaria is to come up with its own national strategy which has to be in harmony with the recently adopted strategy EU 2020. The financial crisis is an indicator of the crisis within the European Union, Ass. Prof. Ognyan Minchev pointed out. According to him most of European community does not trust the institutions in Brussels and that was the reason why most member states in Western Europe preferred to take decisions on their own national levels.
“The European crisis is contra-productive for Bulgaria because in the long-term, the country is really eager to be ever more fully integrated into the structures of the union,” says Ass. Prof. Minchev. “It is in Bulgaria’s interest to have its European integration in the widest and most intensive of contexts. From today’s point of view it is really difficult to make any forecasts on such integration.”
English version: Delian Zahariev
