La candidatura búlgara de adhesión a la Unión Europea a la vista de los criterios de Copenhague

Abstract

This Ph. D. Thesis examines Bulgaria�s candidacy for European Union (EU) membership in the light of the criteria defined by the 1993 Copenhagen European Council.The dissertation is divided into two parts which include several chapters with his respective subchapters and contains also the final conclusions reached concerning the present research results.The first part of the Thesis is composed of two chapters dedicated to the historical antecedents and the collapse of the socialist system in central and eastern European countries (CEEC) and to their particular way to return to Europe through accession to the EU, making special emphasis on the Bulgarian case.The second part includes three chapters that analyze Bulgaria�s situation in respect of the political requirements for membership (democracy, rule of law, human rights, protection of minorities), as regards as the economic requirements for membership (functioning market economy, capacity to cope with competitive pressures and market forces within the EU) and concerning the Bulgaria s capacity to assume the obligations of membership (transposition and implementation of the acquis communautaire).The final conclusions insist on the vagueness of the concept of Eastern Europe and the tendency to the unification of numerous european countries and discover the unique character of the transition process in the CEECs, the own characteristics of the political, economic and social evolution of the Bulgarian transition, the multiple reasons for the Bulgaria�s accession to the EU (geostrategic situation) and the national particularities observed in the process of post-socialist transformations that help explain the delay and difficulties in the preparation of Bulgaria for EU membership.