How has EU membership transformed Bulgaria?

Liubov Plămădeală, TV8, August 12, 2024

Moldovans can afford to buy twice less goods and services compared to the poorest Europeans. We’re talking about Bulgarians, who in the past were heavily dependent on the Soviet Union, only to embark on the path of European integration in the late 1990s. Find out more about Bulgaria’s economy in a new report from the I Want in Europe campaign.

In 2007, when Bulgaria joined the EU, its citizens could afford only 37% of what a European could buy. 17 years on, the quality of life has improved considerably. Bulgarians can now afford 64% of the European average.

By comparison, Moldovans’ purchasing power is only 27% of that of Europeans. Bulgaria’s economy suffered a dramatic setback after 1989, when it lost the Soviet market to which it was closely linked. Although the recovery has been complicated, an analysis by Bulgaria’s Institute for Market Economics shows that before EU accession, the country’s gross domestic product was about 20-25% of the EU average.

Now, 17 years after accession, this indicator has increased 3 times. This has also meant an increase in incomes. In the year of accession, at that time, Bulgarians had a minimum wage of €90. Now there are no salaries below €500.

The average wage in the economy, although one of the lowest in the EU, has risen almost four times in the last 17 years and was €1120 in the first quarter of this year. For comparison, in Moldova, the average earned in the same period was €683. Regardless of who is in power in Sofia, the authorities recognize that the Bulgarian economy is thriving largely thanks to European money.

Since joining the EU, Brussels has provided the country with some €40 billion.

“We have been in the EU for many years, 17 years, we have free movement of goods, capital, transportation, etc. Bulgarians’ income has increased significantly, about 10 times. It is now at the level of about €500 minimum wage and €240 minimum pension,” explains economist Rumen Galabinov.

Although things are moving more slowly than they would like, Bulgarians say they are on the right track.

Opinions of ordinary Bulgarians:

“In any case, we are living better. And I don’t understand what gives EU critics an argument. The biggest benefit for my children and my colleagues is the possibility to travel together.”

“Right. There is definitely a big difference than before. Definitely, we have freedom and, of course, it is important that we are in the EU.”

“People have improved their quality of life in terms of salary. Being able to travel more easily has helped open them to the world. There is still a long way to go, but the direction is right.”

“I say this as a student. I studied law, so I’m quite familiar with the EU and EU law. For me, the EU is also better because salaries are higher. In addition, big countries – like Germany, Austria, the former UK – help small countries like Bulgaria and Romania. This is useful for us economically and from all points of view.”

“Pensions are growing very slowly. We would like them to be a bit faster and bigger.”

“Wages depend on labor productivity. They depend on whether production is high-tech and what is used as raw materials. It is valuable that we are together in Europe. There are many positive points. It is valuable to keep what each country offers to Europe. Each of the thumbs is different, but when they are together they have greater strength.”

Moldova’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Anatol Cebuc, says he returned to Sofia after nearly 20 years and when he returned, he discovered another country.

“My last mission came to an end in 2001 when Bulgaria was not a member of the EU. Now, 20 years later, coming back to Sofia, for me it was a discovery, another city, another world, another face of the country. People have changed radically. You don’t see sadness on their faces. They are cheerful, they are satisfied with life, I tell myself. And they are already looking not into the past, but into the future.”

Now the diplomat is convinced that the Republic of Moldova can only prosper in the European family.

“The European Union is a freedom, it is a democracy, it is a voice. A voice which… is also your voice, which you can say, which can be heard, which can be realized. The European Union is a security for all of us. The greatest security in general for a country is when you are free. To be free is easy to say, it’s harder to achieve, but the European Union has proved it by the fact that freedom can happen.”

Bulgaria, like Romania, joined the EU on January 1, 2007 and is now working hard to join the eurozone. The target date for the introduction of the single European currency is set for January 1, 2025, and as a result there will be a reduction in transaction and business costs, which will support exports and increase foreign investment.

Photo: Change in PPP in Bulgaria – in 2007 it was 37% of the EU’s medium PPP, in 2023 it was 64% of the EU’s medium PPP (source: YouTube)

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