Chapter 3: Bulgaria

(continued)

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In the past three years the government of Bulgaria has passed several new laws that create possibilities for public participation, such as the Law on the Purity of the Atmospheric Air and the Law for Limiting the Harmful Consequences of Waste. The government also has published some of the most important international treaties in order to make the treaties part of the national law. Finally, the government has taken decisive steps to make the Bulgarian legislation comply with the legislation of the EU.

In the nonformal field, progress is visible since the last elections. The new Parliament has begun inviting NGOs to cooperate within the commissions. The MoEW has done the same in nonformal meetings with NGO representatives. As a result, a new relationship is building between the public and the authorities. The public also is developing a more solid basis for assessing the behavior of the authorities, from both a legal and moral point of view.

The major achievements include a new attitude and a new approach of the public to the legal tools as tools for assuring respect for the human rights. Here the events from January 1997 can be mentioned, when the population openly showed its displeasure with the lack of respect showed by the previous government.

However, the old mentality that takes social programs for granted continues to be a problem. The public as well as the authorities must keep evolving. This advancement can be assured both by education of governmental officials and by helping the third (public) sector in its control function over the activity of state officials. It is certain that the state cannot afford a large amount of money for environmental education and support.

Another problem is the lack of rules in several important fields, including access to information, status of officials and the relationship between local and national legislation. Such rules should be adopted.

Control over the activities of state officials is another problem, as there are not enough guarantees that government activities will not be arbitrary. Establishing these guarantees is a task of the government, but the public should insist on the adoption of new rules and the implementation of the existing rules.

The main difficulty in the environmental field is the lack of transparency and the will of medium-level and sometimes high-level authorities to maintain this situation. Openness itself will solve a great many problems, and the NGOs should remember this. Here again the answer is the adoption of appropriate rules and the insistence for implementation of the existing rules.

In order for public participation to function well into the future, the government of Bulgaria must promote:

openness and transparency in the state and local administration;
rules regulating the relations between the authorities and the public;
sanctions for those who do not respect the rules; and
education about the rights and duties in a democratic society.

REC * PUBLICATIONS * DOORS TO DEMOCRACY - CEE * BULGARIA