Bulgaria and the European single market
Adelina Marini, September 18, 2009
Have the Bulgarian citizens and business benefited from the European single market? This is the topic of a hearing that will take place in Sofia and organised by the Observatory of the single market of the European Economic ans Social Committee. Positions will present representatives of the civil society in Bulgaria as well as the Economic ans Social Council in Bulgaria (ESCB). Among the participants is Lalko Dulevski, chairman of the ESCB and the minister of labour and social policy Totyu Mladenov.
The questions that are expected to be answered at the gathering are:
- What is the impact of enlargement over the Bulgarian economy and social life?;
- What do the consumers, workers, farmers, SMEs, big enterprises, free professions and many other participants in local life think of the changes, caused by Bulgaria's EU membership?
- What recommendations will the participants make to the European regulator?
- Can the participants hope to have any influence over the Community legislation?
The single market is the basis for the creation of the EU. Its main aim is the free movement of goods, people and services. However, the market is not single with regard to people and services. Many of the old member states have introduced transition periods for workers from the newcomers. Almost the same is the situation with services because they are with a much lower price in the new members than in the old ones.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body in which members are representatives of the civil society and the Observatory of the single market follows the trends of the civil society in the EU member states, defines the sectors that need improvements in the functioning of the market. But, according to the EESC, the European integration depends on the member states themselves. This is because it is them who create the preconditions for the functioning of the market as a single mechanism.