Bulgarian membership of the European Union

The accession of Bulgaria to the European Union took place on 1 January 2007. Bulgaria was part of the second stage of the EU's fifth enlargement, along with Romania. The date of accession was set at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003 and confirmed in Brussels on 18 June 2004. Bulgaria signed the Treaty of Accession on 25 April 2005 at Luxembourg's Neumuenster Abbey.

Bulgaria's European Commissioner

Following its accession to the European Union on 1 January 2007, Bulgaria has been represented in the European Commission with one Commissioner.

According to Article 45 of the protocol to the Accession Treaty of Bulgaria and Romania:

cquote
A national of each new Member State shall be appointed to the Commission as from the date of accession. The new Members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Council, acting by qualified majority and by common accord with the President of the Commission, after consulting the European Parliament (…) [ [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_157/l_15720050621en00290045.pdf Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania] , "Official Journal L 157 of 21 June 2005"] .

The present Bulgarian European Commissioner to be appointed is Meglena Kuneva, from NDSV, Commissioner for Consumer Protection in the Barroso Commission, from 1 January 2007 until 31 October 2009. She was nominated in 2006 by the current Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev.

:"See Also: Bulgarian Commissioners

Bulgarian Members of the European parliament

Upon accession Bulgaria's 18 observer MEPs became full members and the new MEPs were directly elected by July 2007 to the European Parliament.

:"See Also: MEPs for Bulgaria 2007–2009

History of accession

Within the framework of integration meetings held between the EU member states and Bulgaria, an 'Association Committee' was held on 22 June 2004. It confirmed overall good progress for the preparation of accession; however, it highlighted the need for further reform of Bulgaria's judicial structures, particularly in its pre-trial phases, as well as the need for further efforts to fight against corruption and organized crime, including human trafficking.

There was also, according to the report, limited progress regarding the integration of the Roma community. The findings were reflected in the [http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/report_2004 2004 Regular Report.]

The [http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/ec/83201.pdf Brussels European Council of December 17 2004] confirmed the conclusion of accession negotiations with Bulgaria. The 26 September 2006 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/26_09_06_fullreport.pdf monitoring report] of the European Commission confirmed the date once more, also announcing that Bulgaria and Romania would meet no direct restrictions, but progress in certain areas — reforms of the judicial system, elimination of corruption and the struggle against organized crime — would be strictly monitored.

The first Bulgarian European Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva of NDSV, joined the Barroso Commission as the person responsible for consumer protection upon Bulgaria's accession to the EU. [cite news|url=http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1485&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en |title=President Barroso presents the Commissioner designate for Bulgaria |date=2006-10-26 |accessdate=2007-01-04 |publisher=Europa.eu ] Her term spans 1 January 2007 – 31 October 2009.

The Bulgarian National Bank plans to replace the national currency with the euro by 1 January 2010, [cite web |url=http://www.bnb.bg/bnb/home.nsf/vPages/Release_20041125/$FILE/agreementfinal1-EURO-MS-eng.pdf |title=Agreement between the Council of Ministers and the Bulgarian National Bank on the introduction of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria |publisher=Bulgarian National Bank |accessdate=2007-01-04 ] [cite news|url=http://bankera.dir.bg/_wm/news/news.php?nid=59663&df=45&dflid=3 |title=Правим първи стъпки за еврото |accessdate=2007-01-04 |date=2006-12-28 |publisher=Pari |language=Bulgarian ] a term deemed realistic by foreign observers. [cite news|url=http://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria/Emission_English/News/0412B16.htm |title= Bulgaria may introduce the Euro in 2010 |publisher=BNR Radio Bulgaria |date=2006-12-04 |accessdate=2007-01-04 ]

Cyrillic alphabet

With this accession, the Cyrillic alphabet became the third official alphabet of the EU, after the Latin and Greek alphabets. According to a declaration by Bulgaria to the European Union:

With the recognition of Bulgarian as an authentic language of the Treaties as well as an official and working language to be used by the institutions of the European Union, the Cyrillic alphabet will become one of the three alphabets officially used in the European Union. This substantial part of the cultural heritage of Europe represents a particular Bulgarian contribution to the linguistic and cultural diversity of the Union. [cite journal
title = Final Act: Declarations: Declaration by the Republic of Bulgaria: Declaration by the Republic of Bulgaria on the use of the cyrillic alphabet in the European Union
journal = Official Journal of the European Union
volume = 48
issue = L 157
pages = 392
publisher = Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
date = 2005-06-21
url = http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_157/l_15720050621en03910392.pdf
accessdate = 2007-01-03 ]

Cyrillic will also be featured on the euro banknotes and the national (obverse) side of the Bulgarian euro coins. The ECB and the EU Commission insisted that Bulgaria change the official name of the currency from ЕВРО (as accepted) to ЕУРО, claiming that the currency should have a standard spelling and pronunciation across the EU. [cite news|url=http://mediapool.bg/show/?storyid=123152 |title=Николай Василев ще брани в Брюксел изписването “евро” вместо “еуро” |date=2006-11-07 |accessdate=2007-01-04 |language=Bulgarian |publisher=Mediapool.bg ] For details, see Linguistic issues concerning the euro.

The issue was decisively resolved in favour of Bulgaria at the 2007 EU Summit in Lisbon, allowing Bulgaria to use the Cyrillic spelling евро on all official EU documents. [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL1868684020071018 Bulgaria wins victory in evro battle | Reuters ] ] [ [http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/evro-dispute-over--portuguese-foreign-minister/id_25576/catid_66 "Evro" dispute over - Portuguese foreign minister | The Sofia Echo] ]

As of 13 December 2007, all EU institutions - including the ECB - use ЕВРО as the official Bulgarian transliteration of the single European currency.

ee also

*Enlargement of the European Union
*Treaty of Accession 2005
*Romanian membership of the European Union

Notes

External links and references

* [http://www.evroportal.bg/index.php?lang=en Bulgarian euro portal with news]
* [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2006:0214:FIN:EN:PDF EU Commission report on the state of preparedness of Bulgaria and Romania]
* [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2005:157:SOM:EN:HTML Documents concerning the accession of Bulgaria and Romania]