The europeanization of migration policies in new member states : the case of Bulgaria

Abstract

Bulgaria is one of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) that until recently was aiming to join the EU and had to go through important changes in the legislations, policy making processes and institutions so that it would meet the EU requirements before it is accepted in its union. The country has been subject to a large adaptational pressure that was different to what the older Member States have experienced. The EU places conditions for the member states in order to obtain the reward of EU membership and it applies the rational instruments referred to as the 'sticks and carrots' tactics, in order to get the Member States to implement changes in their legislations. Using the process of Europeanization, the EU inducted the CEECs to EU standards. In its most ambiguous form Europeanization refers to the process of 'downloading' EU regulations and institutional structures to the domestic level. Immigration is quite a new phenomenon in the newly democratic CEECs and in those countries which have transited to a market economy because during the communist regime, immigration and emigration was substantially limited and manifested. However, as democratic changes were slowly introduced after the fall of communism, the subject of Bulgaria became prominent within the European and global migration system. Like other ex soviet union states, Bulgaria wanted to join the EU and in order do so it had to implement the acquis communautaire, partly of this implementation consisting in Europeanizing its immigration policies. The process of EU enlargement had a strong impact on Bulgaria's political, social and economic transformation process and the country had to apply the conditionality imposed by the EU which consisted of following the criteria and enforcing compliance. Europeanization in the accession process was thus intensively connected with the mechanism of conditionality and compliance, including Europeanizing its immigration policies. In this dissertation I shall argue that, the fact that Bulgaria is largely a country of emigration rather than a country of immigration does not exclude the obligation of incorporation and transposition of EU legislation into the national law system, even though Bulgaria does not actually need such provisions.