waz.observer
VESSELIN ZHELEV
03.11.2010 @ 09:40 CET
Bulgaria is no longer the most corrupt country in Europe, according to Transparency International's 2010 index of public sector corruption.
Greece has now taken over the top EU spot in the list, but Bulgaria's position as the Union's least competitive and most energy-consuming economy is still beyond challenge.
03.11.2010 @ 09:40 CET
Bulgaria is no longer the most corrupt country in Europe, according to Transparency International's 2010 index of public sector corruption.
Greece has now taken over the top EU spot in the list, but Bulgaria's position as the Union's least competitive and most energy-consuming economy is still beyond challenge.
Bulgaria's labour productivity per hour worked is less than 40 percent of the EU average, according to a European Commission report.
At the same time, the industry of the Black Sea country spends around 800g of oil equivalent per €1 of gross added value, compared to a 250g EU average.
"Bulgaria's real effective exchange rate depreciated slightly from its 1999 level to 2005 but appreciated strongly from 2005 to 2009, indicating significantly decreased competitiveness," the paper said. "Bulgaria was confronted with one of the biggest drops of manufacturing output in the EU during the crisis. It fell by almost 35 percent, but regained 17 percent in July 2010."
The commission also said that Bulgaria's performance in the field of innovation was below EU average and that the country lagged behind other member states in terms of carbon intensity, waste generation by enterprises and export of environmental goods.
The paper urges the authorities in Sofia "to undertake important structural reforms to improve its competitiveness such as cutting red tape, fostering innovation with a view toward increasing productivity, improving energy efficiency across all sectors of the economy and developing the transport infrastructure."
The government of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov does not, however, seem to be getting the message. It is planning unpopular spending cuts, in common with other European countries, but instead of steering scarce resources primarily to knowledge-based sectors, it has painfully axed budgets for science, research and education, prompting protests by students and academics.
The only state institution to be fully spared from any cuts is the 60,000-strong interior ministry where Mr Borisov, a former bodyguard, made most of his career. His first deputy, interior minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, has described the ministry's tasks of fighting crime and corruption as the government's key anti-crisis measures.
Bulgaria's former EU commissioner Meglena Kuneva told WAZ.EUobserver that the government was unable to set the right priorities for Bulgaria.
"The EU can help us do what we obviously can't – to set our priorities," she said in a telephone interview. "It is enough to see what the priorities of the union as a whole are and how they have translated them in countries like Finland, Sweden and Poland to understand what we have to do and how to do it."
"It is good that the students are insisting on a long-term strategy," Ms Kuneva added, referring to recent protests at Sofia University.
At the same time, the industry of the Black Sea country spends around 800g of oil equivalent per €1 of gross added value, compared to a 250g EU average.
"Bulgaria's real effective exchange rate depreciated slightly from its 1999 level to 2005 but appreciated strongly from 2005 to 2009, indicating significantly decreased competitiveness," the paper said. "Bulgaria was confronted with one of the biggest drops of manufacturing output in the EU during the crisis. It fell by almost 35 percent, but regained 17 percent in July 2010."
The commission also said that Bulgaria's performance in the field of innovation was below EU average and that the country lagged behind other member states in terms of carbon intensity, waste generation by enterprises and export of environmental goods.
The paper urges the authorities in Sofia "to undertake important structural reforms to improve its competitiveness such as cutting red tape, fostering innovation with a view toward increasing productivity, improving energy efficiency across all sectors of the economy and developing the transport infrastructure."
The government of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov does not, however, seem to be getting the message. It is planning unpopular spending cuts, in common with other European countries, but instead of steering scarce resources primarily to knowledge-based sectors, it has painfully axed budgets for science, research and education, prompting protests by students and academics.
The only state institution to be fully spared from any cuts is the 60,000-strong interior ministry where Mr Borisov, a former bodyguard, made most of his career. His first deputy, interior minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, has described the ministry's tasks of fighting crime and corruption as the government's key anti-crisis measures.
Bulgaria's former EU commissioner Meglena Kuneva told WAZ.EUobserver that the government was unable to set the right priorities for Bulgaria.
"The EU can help us do what we obviously can't – to set our priorities," she said in a telephone interview. "It is enough to see what the priorities of the union as a whole are and how they have translated them in countries like Finland, Sweden and Poland to understand what we have to do and how to do it."
"It is good that the students are insisting on a long-term strategy," Ms Kuneva added, referring to recent protests at Sofia University.
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