22 December 1990
The Bulgarian Parliament adopted a decision whereby the willingness of the Republic of Bulgaria to become a member of the European Community was expressed. The signing of Europe Agreement with the European Community was regarded as a step towards this ultimate goal.
8 March 1993
The Europe Agreement for Bulgaria and the Provisional Agreement on Trade and Related Matters are signed. The Europe Agreement provided a framework for development of a profound political dialogue and for establishment of a free trade zone covering the trade between Bulgaria and the European Community.
14 April 1994
The political dialogue between Bulgaria and EU in the framework of the association process was started by the consultations of the Bulgarian Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Relations Lyuben Berov with the President of the European Council and Minister of Foreign Relations of Denmark Nils Helveg Petersen and Foreign Relations Commissioner of the European Communities Hans van den Bruk.
1 February 1995
The Europe Agreement for Bulgaria became effective.
6-8 September 1995
A Joint Bulgaria - EU Parliamentary Committee was set up in Sofia. The political and the social and economic situation in Bulgaria, Bulgaria - EU trade and economic relations, cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs, the PHARE Programme performance, the political situation in South and Central Europe were discussed.
14 December 1995
The Bulgarian Parliament adopted a resolution for official application of Bulgaria for EU membership.
12–13 December 1997
The European Council in Luxemburg decided to start negotiations for accession with Hungary, Poland, Estonia, the CzechRepublic and Cyprus. Along with that the Council decided to accelerate the preparation for negotiations with Bulgaria, Latvia, Slovakia and Rumania by starting a screening of the legislation.
23 March 1998
The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria adopted a National Strategy on Bulgaria’s Accession to EU.
10 December 1999
The European Council in Helsinki decided to start negotiations with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania and Malta.
20 January 2000
The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria adopted Decree No 3 upon which the Chief Negotiator of Bulgaria, the core team for negotiations and work groups according to negotiations’ chapters were appointed.
15 February 2000
The first Intergovernmental Conference on Bulgaria’s accession has launched the negotiations for EU membership.
March 2000
A Committee on European Integration was set up within the Bulgarian Parliament.
1 December 2000
The Council of Ministers on Justice and Home Affairs decided to exclude Bulgaria of the Schengen visa list.
9 Octomber 2002
The European Commission’s regular reports were published, recommending the accession of 10 new Member States. Bulgaria was recognized as a "functioning market economy". The European Commission expressed its support to Bulgaria’s accession to the EU in 2007.
12-13 December 2002
The European Council in Copenhagen expressed its supports to Bulgaria and Romania in their efforts to achieve the objective of membership in 2007 and adopted roadmaps of both countries.
19-20 June 2003
The European Council in Thessaloniki supported Bulgaria in its efforts to achieve the objective of concluding the negotiations in 2004 and to become a member in 2007.
15 June 2004
The accession negotiations on all 31 chapters were provisionally closed.
25 April 2005
The Accession Treaty was signed in Luxembourg.
1 January 2007
Bulgaria is officially given the statut member state of the EU.
Institutions of the European Union
Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is elected by the citizens of the European Union to represent their interests.
Council
The Council is the EU's main decision-making body. It represents the member states, and its meetings are attended by one minister from each of the EU’s national governments.
Presidency
The Presidency of the Council rotates every six months. In other words, each EU country in turn takes charge of the Council agenda and chairs all the meetings for a six-month period, promoting legislative and political decisions and brokering compromises between the member states.
European Commission
The Commission is independent of national governments. Its job is to represent and uphold the interests of the EU as a whole. It drafts proposals for new European laws, which it presents to the European Parliament and the Council.
Court of Justice
Its job is to make sure that EU legislation is interpreted and applied in the same way in all EU countries, so that the law is equal for everyone. It ensures, for example, that national courts do not give different rulings on the same issue.
Court of Auditors
The Court’s job is to check that EU funds, which come from the taxpayers, are properly collected and that they are spent legally, economically and for the intended purpose. Its aim is to ensure that the taxpayers get maximum value for their money, and it has the right to audit any person or organisation handling EU funds.
© 2006 BICA. Created by Desart Studio.
© 2006 BICA. Created by Desart Studio.© 2006 BICA. Created by Desart Studio.