site.btaEleven of 15 OECD Committees Complete Accession Reviews for Bulgaria – Foreign Minister

Eleven of the 25 expert committees of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have completed their in-depth reviews in connection with Bulgaria’s bid to accede to the OECD, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev pointed out in an answer to a question from an MP of Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria.

The written answer has been published on the National Assembly website.

The reviews assess Bulgaria’s willingness and ability to implement OECD legal instruments and the country’s policies and practices compared to OECD best policies and practices and can result in recommendations for changes to legislation, policies and/or practices to align with OECD standards and best practices.

Two more committees (the Regulatory Policy Committee and the Education Policy Committee) are expected to confirm the completion of their reviews in May 2025. “During the present year, which is decisive for the accession process, particular attention should be paid, and efforts should be pooled, with a focus on implementing the recommendations issued by a number of OECD committees and working groups for revising legislation, in which the National Assembly plays a key part,” Georgiev writes.

“Since the start of the process in 2022, the Bulgarian institutions engaged in it have been actively working for the attainment of steady progress in implementing the OECD recommendations in the various policy areas. By mid-April 2025, a total of 61 hearings were held at the organization’s committees and working groups, of which 38 took place in 2024 alone. Another ten such reviews are scheduled until the end of 2025,” the Foreign Minister’s answer reads.

One of the OECD Secretariat’s proposals concerning the role of the National Assembly is for the setting up of a separate parliamentary body (committee, subcommittee or other) expressly engaged in Bulgaria’s OECD accession, Georgiev writes. He argues that such mechanism could ensure stable political support for going ahead with essential reforms and contribute to a faster consideration of bills related to implementing legal instruments and fulfilling recommendations made by the Organisation within the pre-accession period.

“Bulgaria’s bid to join the OECD enjoys wide-ranging support among the member countries of the Organisation, but in order to strengthen our positions we need to keep demonstrating a sustained and long-term commitment to accession and the OECD principles and goals. Fine cooperation among all government institutions engaged in the process and the National Assembly will guarantee a successful completion of this process and achieving in 2026 yet another priority of national foreign policy, after Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area on January 1, 2025,” Georgiev writes in his answer.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food reported the successful completion of the review conducted by the OECD Committee for Agriculture.

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Bulgaria established cooperation with the OECD in the early 1990s. The country actively participates in the OECD South East Europe Regional Programme and shares in the organisation's statistical and information reporting systems, comparative analyses (including the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)), publications, policy reviews, etc.

Bulgaria's first official expression of interest in entering the OECD dates from 2007. Since then, the request to join the Organisation has been repeatedly affirmed, the last time in 2017.

Bulgaria holds a member/associate member status in 13 OECD working groups, a participant status in six other bodies, and a guest/observer status in another 19.

This country has adhered to 32 OECD legal instruments and has requested accession to another six. Bulgaria has acceded to six out of eight OECD standards the accession to which is considered mandatory in the Framework for the Consideration of Prospective Members, and the procedure for adhering to the remaining two standards is in progress.

Bulgaria joined the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, effective January 1, 2021.

On June 25, 2022, the country was invited to start accession negotiations with the OECD. On June 10, 2022 in Paris, the country received its individual Accession Roadmap adopted by the OECD Council.

On August 11, 2022 the Council of Ministers adopted a decree on the arrangements and coordination of the OECD accession negotiating and preparation process. The interdepartmental coordination mechanism for OECD accession held its first meeting on August 29, 2022.