 THE EU ACCESSION
A NEW SHOCK THERAPY? |
EU accession has emerged as one of the pillars of both foreign and domestic policy for the governments since 1997. In 1999 Bulgaria was formally invited to start a long process of accession talks, and had to assume a number of commitments that will have to be in place by the time its membership will be put on the immediate agenda of the European Union.
Bulgarians had again to sober up somewhat in their expectations, as EU membership now means more or less what the "shock economic therapy" would have meant in the early 90-s, which Bulgaria has avoided so far.
"I see more advantages than disadvantages. There is no doubt about the big advantage to be a member of the EU. Is it the right time? Probably, yes," Apostol Apostolov, Chief Executive Director of Bulgaria's Privatization Agency (PA )said.
"Now there are twelve applicant states. When Spain, Portugal and Greece joined the EU, they had the chance to be only three, and they invested important quantities of capital to match the criteria
For example, Greece and Portugal were far behind
Bulgaria in terms of economic development twenty
years ago, and now they are quite ahead. They just
had the money that improved the life style of these
purely agricultural countries. If Bulgaria wants
to become a real member of the EU, we have to change
our way of thinking. We cannot keep thinking that
the government will always be there to take care
of us as a nation, as individuals, as employees.
If this country and my company want to be competitive
with the companies and the countries in the EU,
first of all I will have to make products with a
better quality and a low price. |
How can I do this as a general manager when I am obliged to keep 1,000 employees when I can produce the same goods with 700? In this case not only do we have to pay the social price but also the price for a new economy, a new management system, and a new order in the country. Then probably we will have a real chance… Now everybody says it is the time for accession to the EU. Everybody expects there will be money pouring down when we enter the EU. But the truth is: no pain, no gain."
A senior foreign banker in Bulgaria also shared a similar opinion. "I think this is a natural process. Bulgaria is a part of Europe. On the other hand, the economic situation, especially the macro-economic situation needs a lot of improvement. This is well understood by Bulgarians. With the initial indications given that within the second half of this decade there should be a fair chance of entry, this seems realistic.
But it will depend on the further efforts and achievements on the Bulgarian side, as well as the general political developments in Europe. The EU is not yet a completely unified block, while people and governments have different opinions. But I definitely think there is a fair chance and it will be very advisable to have Bulgaria among the members of the EU."
Over the last 12 years Bulgarians had to learn again the basics of private business. The results are spectacular, if measured in terms of the portion of the gross domestic product generated by private businesses - currently estimated at some 75%, up from a token 1% in 1990. The proverbial ability of Bulgarians to survive, no matter what, softened the collapse of the ill-conceived security of 45 years in the orbit of the Soviet Union.
Bulgaria is currently ranked as 117-th in the world
in terms of GDP per capita (while for instance Argentina
is 59-th). |
