Bulgaria slapped by EU for chronic corruption

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Interesting article from the Economist on corruption in Bulgaria, that is so bad, that Brussels is announcing to freeze payments to Bulgaria, with further sanctions pending.

 

I was just thinking to myself "where's Ragusa?" and here this thread pops up.

Will the EUs move actually quell the corruption or just tick the Bulgarian government off? Will it hurt the "man on the street"?

 

Heh, why did they even attempt this in a country that doesn't meet the minimum requirements?!

A country should be able to stand on it's own before EU comes along!
This will hit the commoners first!

 

LKD,
Bulgaria is a sovereign country. They got to get their house in order or get no more money. To fight corruption in Bulgaria is not a thing the EU can and wants to do. They will offer help, but the Bulgarians will have to do it themselves. But to comply with EU standards they will have to. There's no way around that. So what the EU will do is be adamant about that, and if Bulgaria doesn't show progress they will basically be put under economic sanctions.
That would invite opposition to make this an issue and blame stuff like forfeiting one billion Euro to be invested in improving the infrastructure on the ruling government, rightly so. One has to keep in mind that this is development aid that Bulgaria would basically get for free (a benefit of having joined the club so to say), to catch up with the rest of the EU's higher standard - and these crooks in government are so stupid to fumble that out of greed. The EU certainly won't pump more money after bad one.

As for whether it will hit the commoners, of course it will - in the sense that Bulgaria won't improve it's dreadful infrastructure. But that harm is done not by the EU but by their own crooks. The EU stopping to feed them won't impact the commoners at all.

It is (to me at least) a very interesting question whether the EU could, in the extreme, expel Bulgaria. I think this is politically not wanted. As for whether it's legally possible, I can't tell without in depth research.

 

The move to withold money by the EU is a wise one in general theory, IMHO. I would say it is an incentive for the Bulgarian government to fight its own corruption, so in a sense the EU is fighting corruption in Bulgaria by withholding any more money. But that's semantics.

I'd like to know how bad the infrastructure is there -- are the roads crumbling and the trains on a haphazard schedule? What about access to medical care? I'll have to do some research on my own on this one before I can make too many comments.

 

Under current agreements there are no ways a country could be expelled or could even resign. There's also the fact that such actions would in any case require the agreement of the entire union, I think there are some countries (such as Romania) which would feel somewhat threatned by such a move and would definently vote against it. Therefore it's difficult to see any possibility for expelling Bulgaria. It's legally (afaik) impossible and politically impossible to make it legally possible.

As to the issue itself, it has allways been known that corruption in Bulgaria will be a very difficult issue to deal with. I think some very tought measures need to be taken before we can even think about improvement. It's allways difficult to make a change when the ones who are responsible for making changes are corrupt. It also remains to be seen how Bulgaria will react to all of this, will they challenge the commission on the issue?

 

I would bet that the present government will definitely challenge this ruling. They will be desperate to show that the corruption is being addressed -- by them -- and that they are not the corrupt ones. They'll plead that the money is needed to help the common Bulgarian get the level of services he needs and deserves as a member of the EU, and that the EU is condemning the Bulgarian populace to a horrible fate.

Whether people will buy their story is another question. If they are truly corrupt (and I don't know enough about the present Bulgarian government to say one way or the other) and everyone in Bulgaria and the rest of the EU knows it then their hypocrisy will turn more people against them, both inside and outside of Bulgaria.

Sounds to me like the EU should have been a little more careful in the countries they allow in.

 

Morgoth,
it is politically impossible, definitely; legally, I need to check that out, it would certainly be difficult.

LKD,
the EU is about integration and symbolism is as important as values, common laws and the mutual financial benefits. Bulgaria is an unattractive place (IMO) with a lovely landscape (the only place worse I could immediately think of is Albania, which is probably even more corrupt). Them joining opens their markets to us as much as it opens ours to them, that is the European Common Market. Not that there are many cool exports to Germany from Bulgaria. Iirc the German economy nets much more, even with us paying the Bulgarians to improve their infrastructure.

 

And I'd love to see it work, believe you me. However, it's not likely that the current government will be able to do much about it - there are too many special interests attached to all of the parties in the coalition. It's embarrassing to say it, but this may be one of the best things the EU can do for us.

Well, it depends on what you're used to, but the road network, in particular the roads to the smaller towns, could definitely use a major overhaul - it's definitely a few steps down from any country in the EU and, heck, in most places worse than what I've seen in ex-Yugoslavia. ITrains are still relatively reliable except in blizzards etc, but they're old so they are not used that much.. The medical system is still in a bit of a mess (it was worse before), but you can't have good healthcare on a meager budget. So yes, if you can afford it it's ok... Although many older people with lower incomes believe they got better healthcare before '89.

Funny you mention roads, there was a pretty bad scandal a few months ago when it was found out that the head of the Roads and Infrastructure agency had a brother who headed a road construction company that had netted some sweet contracts. Neither of them is in prison, of course. That's the bloody problem, pardon my English - the people who got in prison for high-level corruptions can be counted on the fingers on one hand. Actually, this problem was refered in every EU report since even before we joined, including in last year's report. Of course, the coalition was counting on that since it got Bulgaria in the EU (mostly due to their predecessor's efforts and the EU's good graces) they would not be challenged seriously by either the citizens and the opposition. So far, it has worked - unfortunately, as I think this is not one of the best governments we've had in recent years.

@ Morgoroth: I doubt the ruling coalition would challenge the Commission on the report. They may try to spin, but it's not likely to work... especially with the opposition biting on their heels. Considering the reputation they have, it would be beyond absurd anyway. In fact, it's fairly surprising the EU has been so tolerant thus far - I was expecting more criticism from the 2007 Commission report, but I think it was deflected by a timely scandal which led to the resignation of 1 minister and 1 deputy. The minister was subsequently reassigned to a government agency, mind you.

Edit: isn't the topic suited to the Lingering Sighs alley?

 

There are already articles in the press that the actual Commission/Council report will be notably milder. I'm not sure that's a good thing, to be honest - sometimes pressure helps to bring reform, and I do have some doubts in the willingness of our politicians to do the right thing on their own.