Bulgarian membership of the European Union

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Bulgaria
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President Georgi Parvanov (BSP) Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev (BSP) Council of Ministers National Assembly Georgi Pirinski (BSP) Political parties Elections Provinces Human rights Foreign relations European Union Meglena Kuneva (NDSV)
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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 June 18, 2004. Bulgaria signed the Treaty of Accession on April 25, 2005 at Luxembourg's Neumuenster Abbey.

1 Bulgaria's European Commissioner
2 Bulgarian MEPs
3 History of accession
4 Cyrillic alphabet
5 See also
6 Notes
7 External links and references

[edit] Bulgaria's European Commissioner

Following its accession to the European Union on January 1, 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:

“

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(...)^[1].

”

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

See Also: Bulgarian Commissioners

[edit] Bulgarian MEPs

Upon accession Bulgaria's 18 oberver MEPs became full members and they will be directly elected by July 2007 to the European Parliament.

See Also: MEPs for Bulgaria 2007-2009

[edit] 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 people trafficking.

There was also, according to the report, limited progress regarding the integration of the Roma community. The findings were reflected in the 2004 Regular Report.

The Brussels European Council of December 17 2004 confirmed the conclusion of accession negotiations with Bulgaria. The 26 September 2006 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.

Bulgarian President Parvanov (left) and then-Prime Minister Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (right) shake hands after signing the Treaty of Accession on April 25, 2005. Then-Foreign Minister Solomon Passy is in the middle.

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.^[2] 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,^[3]^[4] a term deemed realistic by foreign observers.^[5]

[edit] 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.^[6]

Cyrillic will also be featured on the euro banknotes and the national (obverse) side of the Bulgarian euro coins. Currently, the ECB and the EU Commission insist that Bulgaria changes 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.^[7] For details, see Linguistic issues concerning the euro.