1 Introduction, Danish Environmental Protection Agency

Bulgaria's road to Accession

1 Introduction

The enlargement process of incorporating Candidate Countries from Eastern and Central Europe has taken a significant step forward during the Danish presidency of the EU. During the Copenhagen European Summit in December 2002 a major milestone was reached in completing the enlargement process. At the summit the accession negotiations were concluded with ten countries agreed entry by May 2004 after national acceptances.

The summit reaffirmed the irreversibility of the accession process for Bulgaria and Romania. The objective is to conclude the accession negotiations so that the countries can become members by 2007. The summit recognised the progress in meeting the accession criteria so far but underlined also that major reforms still need to be implemented. A roadmap put forward by the Commission before the summit now provides Bulgaria and Romania with clearly identified objectives and gives each country the possibility of setting its own pace for the accession process. The summit stressed the importance of the countries stepping up their preparation, including fulfilling and implementing the commitments undertaken.

The environmental chapter is one of the outstanding areas where the Bulgarian Government will have to deploy extra effort in order to meet the necessary criteria. Bulgaria has already made significant endeavours in putting the legal framework in place and implementing EU standards and practices through action programmes. However, the scale of the environmental problems in Bulgaria and the general barriers facing transitional economies pose a demanding set of challenges for the country.

The contents of this report have been requested by the Bulgarian environmental authorities in the co-operation with the Danish Ministry of Environment as a rounding of the Danish-Bulgarian efforts. The purpose of the report is to illustrate the status of the environment and indicate possible solutions to the problems.

Against this background, the present project has been commissioned with the following objectives:

To prepare a thematic, strategic analysis for Bulgaria, identifying the key problem areas and challenges to be addressed during the pre-accession phase relating to implementation of the EU environmental acquis and to environmental protection and sector integration in general;
To develop a common understanding in the Ministry of Environment and Water and the other relevant sectoral ministries in Bulgaria concerning the key problems and challenges to be addressed in the field of environment, and the priority actions and assistance needed if they are to succeed in the accession process;
To provide a base of factual information and analysis for use by DEPA for informing the public on the above issues during the Danish Presidency.

The report is based on analysis of the DANCEE country programme, literature studies and a series of consultations with representatives of the relevant ministries in Bulgaria. These included the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the Ministry of Energy and Energy Resources and the Ministry of Finance. The aim and the outcome have been discussed with Deputy Minister Fathme Iliaz of the Ministry of Environment and Water.

However, this report presents the findings and observations of the consultants. The conclusions and the outline of future challenges have also been prepared solely by the consultants.