Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-09-04-Speech-2-124"
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"en.20010904.7.2-124"2
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". – Mr President, over the past year we have seen many very encouraging developments in terms of Bulgaria's progress towards accession. While there have undoubtedly been many areas of disappointment, three months ago there was a very dramatic political development in Bulgaria. In the general election on 17 June we saw the governing UDF routed by a new political force, the Simeon II National Movement, led by the former King Simeon who, as Simeon Sakskoburggotski, is now Prime Minister and will be visiting European Union institutions and NATO in Brussels for the first time next week. In the elections some 60% of the electorate preferred to vote for parties that were not represented in the previous parliament. It was a resounding vote of no confidence on the government in office, and a heartfelt demand for real progress, improvement and change: a leap of faith.
The previous UDF administration faced enormous difficulties and I wish to acknowledge its success in many areas. It was the first of the post-communist governments to see out its full term. It took forward Bulgaria's application for European Union membership and put Bulgaria in a position formally to open accession negotiations in February 2000. As a result, 11 negotiating chapters have now been successfully closed. A further 10 have been opened and are under negotiation. It is expected that five more will be opened this year. Only four chapters therefore will remain to be opened by the beginning of next year.
On the macroeconomic level there has been excellent growth in GDP. Bulgaria has been a pillar of regional stability, first through all the international difficulties with the Milosevic regime in neighbouring Yugoslavia, then the Kosovo conflict and most recently with the tensions in neighbouring Macedonia. Bulgaria has acted throughout in a manner supportive of European Union and NATO policies, but the regional instability has inevitably had an impact on the Bulgarian economy and on investor confidence in the region.
But the formal process of negotiation and the aspiration to take reform forward are clearly not enough. Certainly the Bulgarian political system has confirmed its democratic stability. Certainly structures have begun to be put in place to deal with the fundamental problems of weak administrative capacity, of corruption and of excluded minorities. The fact is that most of the people of Bulgaria, through all these difficulties and upheavals, have seen little improvement in their own lives and standards of living.
My report is in effect a final report on the performance of the last government and an indicator as to the problems that need to be addressed by the new administration. The challenge for the new government is to maintain its coherence and to translate its aspirations, its ambitious programme, into concrete reality.
I am very encouraged by what I have heard so far. The new government team, particularly concerning the economy, balances its vitality and enthusiasm with professional competence and a degree of modesty in view of the tasks ahead. The priorities for the government are continuity and the preparations for European Union and NATO membership, with acceleration of political and economic reform, concentrating on tax reforms to stimulate the economy, squeezing out corruption, reform of the judiciary, modernisation of the customs service and border security, and legal changes to ensure that Bulgaria has a functioning market economy through amendment of banking laws and improvement in the bankruptcy laws.
In many ways the new team offers a breath of fresh air. It has a clear agenda and is willing to consider novel solutions drawing on sound experience from other countries. It will be judged by the quality, rather than quantity, of its legislation, by its ability to implement its policies and by its determination to bring about real reform that will benefit the population at large in a tangible manner. At a time of regional crisis and an international economic downturn, this will not be easy. It is time to build the widest possible consensus for reform in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria previously set itself the target of concluding negotiations by 2004 with a view to European Union membership by 2007. Many regard this as ambitious, but not unrealistic. I have agreed to remove such references from my resolution for the sake of consistency with the approach adopted in the other enlargement reports. I do not support amendments which would seek to add further conditionality to Bulgaria's membership application. Of course each candidate country should be judged on its own progress towards accession, without any hidden political barriers and without having to follow the course of any other candidate country. I trust this House will give every encouragement to Bulgaria and its new government on the path to EU and NATO accession and support my resolution. I feel sure that the new government of Bulgaria will respond positively to the points that I have made."@en1
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