IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/spr/socchp/978-3-031-87923-4_4.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

Bulgaria’s Integration in the EU: Benefits and Challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Paskal Zhelev

    (University of National and World Economy)

Abstract

This chapter examines Bulgaria’s integration into the European Union, highlighting both the economic benefits and persistent challenges faced since accession in 2007. It contextualizes Bulgaria’s EU membership within the broader framework of regional economic integration, assessing how EU policies have influenced the country’s economic trajectory. The chapter explores multiple dimensions of integration, including market access, regulatory alignment, capital flows, labor market dynamics, and fiscal transfers. Bulgaria has made significant progress in GDP growth, foreign direct investment, and infrastructure development due to EU membership. The chapter notes improvements in trade volumes, enhanced legal frameworks, and increased fiscal support through cohesion and structural funds. However, challenges such as income inequality, regional disparities, governance deficiencies, and demographic decline persist. The chapter critically analyzes how Bulgaria’s reliance on foreign investments and the structural limitations of EU funds have constrained long-term economic convergence. Furthermore, it addresses the socioeconomic consequences of emigration and brain drain. Through a comparative approach, the chapter evaluates Bulgaria’s performance relative to other EU and non-EU countries, offering insights into the complex and multifaceted impacts of regional economic integration. It underscores the need for strategic domestic reforms to fully leverage EU membership benefits and ensure inclusive, sustainable growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Paskal Zhelev, 2025. "Bulgaria’s Integration in the EU: Benefits and Challenges," Societies and Political Orders in Transition,, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:socchp:978-3-031-87923-4_4
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-87923-4_4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:socchp:978-3-031-87923-4_4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.