Bulgaria
• General country description
• A. First pillar: implementation of CAP reforms (2003)
• B. Second pillar: implementation of RDP measures during 2007-2013
• C. Vision for the CAP beyond 2013: a short overview of the debate (at Member State level) on future CAP reform
• D. Literature, sources, references
• The comparative analysis provides a compact overview of CAP implementation across all 27 Member States and their visions of the future of the CAP
General country discription
Bulgaria |
Comparison with EU-25 |
Population, 2005 (*1,000,000): 7.8 |
|
Population density, 2003 (inh./km2): 71 |
118 in EU-25 |
GDP/capita, 2005 (PPS): 7,400 |
32% of GDP/capita in EU-25 |
Share agriculture in total employment, 2002 (%): 11 |
5% in EU-25 |
Share Utilized Agricultural Area in total land area, 2003 (%): 22 |
46% in EU-25 in 1998 |
Average farm size, 2005 (ha): 21 |
19 in EU-15 |
Number of farms, 2005 (*1000): 118.1 |
|
Source: own calculations based on Eurostat
Distribution of farming types, 2005 (% of total)
Source: own calculations based on Eurostat
EU funding for the Single Payment Scheme (SPS)
and the second pillar, 2007-2013
* Funding according to CAP budget including Bulgaria and Romania.
Sources: Agra Europe (2007); CEU (2006); EC (2007a)
A. First pillar: implementation CAP reform (2003)
A.1 Single Payment Scheme
Model
Bulgaria will apply SAPSfrom 2013
Coupling measures
No information.
A.2 EU budget for Single Payment Scheme (SPS) per year (National ceiling) 2005-2013
Source: 2005: EC (2006); 2006-2013: CEU (2006) and Agra Europe (2007)
Tradability of SPS
No information.
A.3 Cross-compliance: Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC)
Source: IEEP, 2005
Selected standards of the GAEC
No information.
Reason for selection of cross compliance standards
No information.
A.4 Further reform of market regulations
Wine
Bulgaria, as vine-growing and wine-producing country, has strong interests in the results of the future Wine reform. the main issues are the following:
- production potential - is interested the current system for planting rights restrictions to be abolished immediately; is against the EC proposal to stimulate grubbing-up; supports keeping the budget for restructuring and conversion of vine plantations
- market regulations - supports abolishment of the current market regulations measures and introduction of a 'national envelope' of measures
- regulatory measures – supports the harmonization of the measures with OIV (International Wine Organisation)
- wine making practices – is interested to keep the possibility to use saccharose in wine production.
Fruit and vegetables
Bulgaria is satisfied with the political agreement of the reform in F&V market regulation
Simplification into one market regulation
Bulgaria is satisfied with the political agreement to establish a Single CMO.
B. Second pillar: implementation of RDP measures 2007-2013
B.1 Programme level and approval
There is one national strategy and one RDP. The Rural Development Committee (consisting of representatives of the 27 Member States) has approved the RDP for Bulgaria on 20 December 2007.
B.2 Distribution of public budget over the axes (%)1)
axis 1: competitiveness |
axis 2: environment and land management |
axis 3: rural economy |
Axis 4: Leader |
41 |
26 |
30 |
3 |
1) Figures excluding Technical Assistance
Source: (Own calculations based on) Republic of Bulgaria (2007)
B.3 Integration of Leader in axes 1, 2 and 3
Leader contributes to all three axes (1,2,3) (Republic of Bulgaria, 2006).
B.4 Local Action Groups (LAGs)
With national funds and internal donor support, Bulgaria has established 11 'pre-LAGs' (Leader-like groups), which cover 4% of the rural population, and another 9 are in the process of establishment. It is intended to establish 50 LAGs in the 2007-13 period, covering 36,000 km2 or 40% of the territory of rural areas (Republic of Bulgaria, 2007: 205).
B.5 RDP budget 2007-2013 (million euros)
total public budget |
% co-financing EAFRD1) |
EAFRD budget |
Contribution private sector |
Total costs |
National top-ups |
3241.9 |
80 |
2609 |
1036.4 |
4278.4 |
0 |
1) % of co-financing may vary per axis
Source: Republic of Bulgaria (2007)
B.6 Less Favoured Areas
Approval of the designation criteria for Less Favoured Areas (LFA) is one part of the RDP approval process for Bulgaria as a new MS.1 Bulgaria has designed 328,000 ha as mountain areas eligible for payments (out of a total of 886,000 ha mountain areas) and 110,000 ha as areas with handicaps other than mountain areas (out of 449,000 ha).
B.7 Drivers of RDP strategy2
Fit within national policy.
1) Information provided by Helen Williams, Rural Development Desk Officer, DG Agri, European Commission, Brussels.
2) nformation provided by Doriana Milenkova, Office of the Agricultural Attaché, Netherlands Embassy, Sofia.
C. Vision on the CAP beyond 2013*
C.1 Stages in the development of the CAP debate
Is there a debate about the CAP beyond 2013?
In Bulgaria, such a debate is not yet on the agenda. The Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture plans to start a debate on the future of CAP in the context of the Health Check in 2008.*
C.2 Key issues in the debate
Contents of the CAP
- Capping of single farm payments of large farms is unfair and could cause large holdings to split up in order to avoid aid caps (Agra Europe, 2008).
* Information provided by Doriana Milenkova, Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands Office of the Agricultural Attaché, Sofia, Bulgaria.
D. Literature, sources, references
- Agra Europe (2007), "Threat of SFP cuts rises as NMS accede", Agra Europe Weekly, January 12
- Agra Europe (2008), "Council split over modulation, aid capping", Agra Europe Weekly, January 25
- Council of the European Union (CEU) (2006), Council Regulation 1782/2003 (consolidated version - August 5, 2006), Annex VIII and VIIIa, Brussels
- European Commission (EC) (2006), 35th Financial Report on the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guarantee section, 2005 Financial Year, SEC(2006)1152
- European Commission (EC) (2007a), EU support for rural development 2007-2013; Pre-allocated funding under Heading 2 "Natural Resources" of the Financial Framework, Brussels: European Commission
- European Commission (EC) (2007b), Overview of the implementation of direct payments under the CAP in Member States Version November 2007, EC, DG for Agriculture and Rural Development
- Republic of Bulgaria (2006), National Strategy Plan for Rural Development (2007-2013), version September 2006
- Republic of Bulgaria (2007), National Rural Development Programme (2007-2013), final version December 2007 (in Bulgarian)
