site.btaUPDATED May 8, 1990: Bulgaria Signs Its First Agreement with European Community after Start of Democratic Transition

Twenty-six years ago on Friday, Bulgaria and the European Communities (EEC) signed the first agreement between Sofia and Brussels following the start of democratic changes in this country on November 10, 1989. 

The ten-year Agreement on Trade, Commercial and Economic Cooperation between Bulgaria, on the one part, and the European Communities and their member states, on the other part was initialled on April 3, 1990, signed in Brussels on May 8, 1990, and entered into force on November 1, 1990.

The document was ratified by a resolution of Bulgaria's 7th Grand National Assembly on September 19, 1990 and was superseded by the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Bulgaria, of the other part (signed in Brussels on March 8, 1993, effective February 1, 1995).

The Agreement provided for mutual trade preferences through the phased elimination of restrictions on Bulgarian exports to EEC countries. It also provided for strengthened cooperation in industry, agriculture, energy, transport, and environmental protection.

Thanks to the Agreement, Bulgaria was added to the list of beneficiaries under the PHARE Programme, which provided financial and technical assistance for the transition to a market economy in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

A Joint Committee was set up under the Agreement to monitor its implementation and promote bilateral contacts.

Following is a dispatch by BTA's Brussels correspondent by which the Agency's International News Desk Bulletin covered the signing of the Agreement on 1990:

"Bulgaria - European Community: Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement Signed

Brussels, May 8, 1990 (BTA correspondent Atanas Matev) - Bulgaria and the European Community signed a Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement in the Belgian capital today.

The document was signed for Bulgaria by Prime Minister Andrey Lukanov, and for the EEC by the President of the EEC Council until June 30, 1990, Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Gerald Collins, and the Vice-President of the Commission, Frans Andriessen.

Under the agreement, the two contracting parties grant each other most-favoured-nation status.

Exports from the EEC to Bulgaria will not be subjected to any discrimination. The Community, for its part, undertakes gradually to remove the restrictions hitherto imposed on certain goods imported from Bulgaria. In principle, the agreement envisages a completion of this process by 1995, but the Common Market has expressed readiness for lifting the restrictions much earlier, so that there are no obstacles to normal two-way trade.

The section on economic cooperation envisages strengthening and expanding economic contacts between Bulgaria and the EEC in order to promote economic development and raise living standards in the contracting parties, as well as to support structural changes in the Bulgarian economy. Specifically, this will take the form of cooperation in industry, agriculture, construction (including housing), science and technology, energy, environmental protection, transport, communications, tourism and other services sectors, banking, finance, education and personnel training, healthcare, standardization and statistics.

The implementation of the Agreement will be monitored and supervised by a joint committee, which will meet in annual sessions.

Addressing the signing ceremony, all speakers described the Agreement as an important step and a significant stage in the development of relations between Bulgaria and the EEC.

They also pointed out that its content and scope live up to the contracting parties' expectations of pursuing even closer links and cooperation in various fields. At the same time, all the speakers stressed another particularly important point: the agreement signed today constitutes the foundation upon which the next, fundamentally new stage in relations between Bulgaria and the Community will be built: the country's associate membership of the bloc.

'Relations between Bulgaria and the Community will go beyond the scope of this agreement. As recently decided by the European Council in Dublin, the European Community will soon begin preparations for negotiations on association agreements with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe that are committed to the principles of democracy and are developing market-oriented economies,' Collins stated.

'The agreement we are signing today,' said Andriessen, 'marks the beginning of a process of cooperation between Bulgaria and the European Community. On behalf of the Commission of the Community, I wish to express deep satisfaction with the broad changes taking place in Bulgaria and with the country's commitment to democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and the principles of the market economy.

The European Community will continue to give its full support to this process. Talks on association agreements between the organization and those of its neighbours that have chosen the path of political and economic freedom will begin soon.'
Prime Minister Lukanov pointed out that the agreement represented a 'historic breakthrough' for Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people. It was 'a clear recognition that the peaceful democratic change which began in Bulgaria on November 10, 1989 is authentic and irreversible'.

The signing also reflects the 'determination of the Bulgarian people to have their own place in a new and united Europe', the PM said.

'I am authorized to declare on behalf of the Bulgarian Government that it fully welcomes, is ready for, and wishes to begin talks on the proposal for an association agreement put forward at the recent European Council in Dublin,' Lukanov stressed. He reiterated this point at a news conference following the signing of the agreement. Speaking to journalists accredited in Brussels, he noted that, in the long term, Bulgaria's accession to the European Community could be considered, too.

Andrey Lukanov departed for Bulgaria today."