This report contains a case study for the Study supporting the Impact assessment of the future European Social Fund proposal. Achieving structural change: conditions for success in the areas of ESF intervention. The reform under assessment focuses on the implementation of the National Strategy...

This unique insight into the corporate investment in Bulgaria examines companies' finance needs and the constraints they face. The 2024 edition also provides insight into the pressing issues facing firms, such as climate change, high energy costs and the green transition. The survey, which has...

The VAT Gap represents the difference between expected VAT revenues and those actually collected, reflecting compliance challenges, policy inefficiencies, and enforcement gaps. As part of the European Commission's ongoing efforts to improve VAT compliance and revenue collection, these 27 country...

This report documents the work done in the most recent annual update for Bulgaria. This work was carried out by the EUROMOD core development team, based at the JRC in Seville, in collaboration with the national team.

Bulgaria's overall government effectiveness of -0.27 remained far below the average score of the 27 European Union Member States (EU-27). This is the third consecutive negative score since 2020. The period following the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis was characterised by political instability,...

The application of national ELD legislation is low in Bulgaria. The reason is that since April 2008 when the ELD was transposed into Bulgarian law and November 2021, there had been two environmental damage occurrences under the ELD (both in 2020) and six occurrences of an imminent threat of...

For over 40 years, the European Union has supported cutting-edge science, research and innovation. By driving scientific progress, the EU R&I programme helps to tackle some of the most important challenges facing Europe, from cancer to climate change. This CORDIS Results Pack on Horizon in...

The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is the framework of economic policies covering the European Union (EU) - including both euro area and non-euro area countries. The principal long-term aim of EMU is economic convergence for the EU over three successive stages. Once a country reaches the...

Adopted in 2012, the Bulgarian qualifications framework for lifelong learning (BQF - Национална квалификационна рамка за учене през целия живот - НКР) is a comprehensive, eight-level framework with an additional preparatory level 0. It...

Bulgaria's research and innovation (R&I) system has undergone important progress in recent years. The Bulgarian government has put growing policy focus on raising the quality and impact of the country's research system. Measures have been introduced to modernise infrastructures, promote...

The Bulgarian fishing fleet is mainly composed by small-scale seagoing fishing vessels. The fisheries sector is a vital source of employment at regional level, especially in the coastal zones. There is only one specialised training institution in Bulgaria that has the capabilities to provide...

This report provides a comprehensive evaluation of Bulgaria's public research system, focusing on addressing fragmentation issues. It identifies key challenges including underfunding, excessive organisational fragmentation, lack of critical mass in research units, and limited collaboration...

The Commission carried out a study to look at consumer behaviours concerning food waste and date marking. The study covered over 25000 participants from across all 27 EU Member States, who were asked to report on how they manage food in their daily lives through a survey. Based on their...

The euro is meant to be the single currency of the European Union as a whole. It is currently used every day by around 350 million people in the 20 Member States of the euro area. The practical benefits include more stable prices, lower transaction costs for people and businesses, more...

The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is the framework of economic policies covering the European Union (EU) - including both euro area and non-euro area countries. The principal long-term aim of EMU is economic convergence for the EU over three successive stages. Once a country reaches the...

Bulgaria has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past three decades. Despite this transformation and although European Union (EU) membership in 2007 raised expectations of living standards rapidly converging to EU levels, progress on a range of development challenges has been uneven....

The aim is to identify gaps in the monitoring network for Bulgaria according to the revised Ambient Air Quality Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/2881). The analysis is conducted considering the data officially reported by Bulgaria for the last five years (2019-2023) to EEA's Repornet2. Data has...

In practical terms, the implementation of the Bulgarian National Roma Strategic Framework (NRSF) has progressed in a limited manner. Changes in the NRCP were introduced, but they did not strengthen its limited mandate, responsibilities and human capacity. The regulatory power of the new strategy...

This policy note explores key issues in the Danube Region, focusing on labour market dynamics, including the development of digital skills, foreign direct investment (FDI) with a particular emphasis on FDI in the IT sector, and the robotisation and automation of the region's industries. Covering...

This paper introduces the historical dataset with economic time series of socialist Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia (CSSR), the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union (USSR) and Yugoslavia from 1944 to 1993 as well as a new dataset on Albania created as part of...

The SITRANS project is a research project initiated by a consortium of seven organisations including universities, NGOs, regional development agencies and research institutes across Europe. It is dedicated to facilitating a just and inclusive energy transition in regions heavily impacted by the...

This country report has been developed as part of the 'European Monitor of Industrial Ecosystems' project of the European Commission, Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency. It provides data...

This profile, prepared in the course of START (Secretariat Technical Assistance to Regions in Transition) technical assistance, outlines regional characteristics. The region of Stara Zagora, located in south central Bulgaria, has a population of 291,852 (2022) and covers 11 municipalities. Its...

The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) is a research tool that is designed to identify potential risks to media pluralism in the Member States of the European Union and in Candidate Countries. This narrative report has been produced on the basis of the implementation of the MPM that was carried out...

The JRC has established a strong and productive partnership with Bulgaria in the fields of atmospheric emissions, fuel performance, geo spatial environment and disaster preparedness. Through this collaboration, the JRC has worked closely with Bulgaria's national authorities, research...

The JRC has established a strong and productive partnership with Bulgaria in the fields of atmospheric emissions, fuel performance, geo spatial environment and disaster preparedness. Through this collaboration, the JRC has worked closely with Bulgaria's national authorities, research...

The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is the framework of economic policies covering the European Union (EU) - including both euro area and non-euro area countries. The principal long-term aim of the EMU is the economic convergence for the EU over three successive stages. Once a country reaches...

The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is the framework of economic policies covering the European Union (EU) - including both euro area and non-euro area countries. The principal long-term aim of the EMU is the economic convergence for the EU over three successive stages. Once a country reaches...

This PSF Country will support Bulgaria in designing and implementing structural reforms in the national Bulgarian research and innovation system. In particular, it aims to identify the policy levers to be used and provide concrete recommendations (policy and implementation schemes) to...

The EUROMOD Country Reports have the double function of describing the scope of the EUROMOD simulations, including the underlying assumptions, and providing the validation of these simulations against official statistics. The Country Report for Bulgaria is prepared by the BG EUROMOD National...

This Flash Eurobarometer, 'Public opinion in the EU regions' (FL539), was conducted at the request of the Directorate-General for Communication. The survey is designed to assess the views of EU citizens living in each of 194 individual regions across the 27 EU Member States. The survey was built...

In terms of direct sources of law, the Bulgarian legal system is based on a strictly defined hierarchy of the sources of law as follows: EU Law has supremacy over the internal legal provisions of the legislation of Bulgaria (including Constitutional provisions) which contradict it and it can...

This unique insight into the corporate investment in Bulgaria examines companies' finance needs and the constraints they face. The 2023 edition also provides insight into the pressing issues facing firms, such as climate change, high energy costs and the green transition. The survey, which has...

This VET policy brief produced by Cedefop presents a snapshot of vocational education and training policy developments in Bulgaria between 2020 and the beginning of 2023. It presents the context and the challenges the country faces, a selection of the latest VET-related statistics as well as the...

This policy note explores key issues in the Danube Region, focusing on labour market dynamics, including the development of digital skills, foreign direct investment (FDI) with a particular emphasis on FDI in the IT sector, and the robotisation and automation of the region's industries. Covering...

This paper introduces the historical dataset with economic time series of socialist Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia (CSSR), the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union (USSR) and Yugoslavia from 1944 to 1993 as well as a new dataset on Albania created as part of...

As a small open economy, Bulgaria benefits from economic exchanges with global partners. However, after a boost before the Global Financial Crisis and EU accession, its integration in global value chains has been growing only modestly in recent years and it remains particularly low when it comes...

State-owned enterprises’ (SOEs) economic and financial performance may have important fiscal implications. This study evaluates related fiscal risks in Bulgaria from both aggregate and firm-level perspectives. The low level of state-guaranteed debt of SOEs poses minimal fiscal risk. However,...