The Social Dimension in Selected Candidate Countries in the Balkans: Country Report on Bulgaria

Abstract

The European Commission awarded a contract in November 2005 to a consortium composed of the TARKI Social Research Institute (Hungary), CASE, Center for Social and Economic Research (Poland) and CEPS to analyse the socio-economic developments and the process of structural reforms in what were then four candidate countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Turkey. The objective was to identify the major challenges in the current demographic, social and economic context that could be considered relevant in determining the capacity of these countries to function in the European Union. This study presents the findings for Bulgaria and consists of an analytical section and a statistical annex. The other country reports and synthesis report are published separately in this same series.

Keywords: Bulgaria, European Union, socio-economic developments, development, structural reforms, demographic