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Policy Tracker: EU and Russia’s Energy Policy at the Backdrop of the South Stream Pipeline

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The present paper aims at tracking the development of the South Stream gas pipeline project from the perspectives of the EU and Russia, and in the context of the common EU external energy policy. The EU-Russia energy dialogue has become increasingly complicated since the two natural gas crises in 2006 and 2009, when the gas supply was cut for about two weeks due to a gas pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine. Until then the energy relations between Europe and Russia have run smoothly as Gazprom had been perceived as a reliable supplier operating under long-term, oil-indexed contracts providing predictability of supplied volumes and prices. For producers such as Russia operating in a glut market, the most important goal was to preserve their market share in Europe. An eventual supply disruption would discredit suppliers and will push consumers look for more viable alternatives.

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Media note: Energy in(security): the parliament’s decision on the South Stream pipeline increases the risks for Bulgaria’s energy security

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The decision of the Bulgarian Parliament from 4 April 2014 to adopt at first reading the amendments in the Energy Law, which grants South Stream special status highlights the lack of logic in the national energy policy and compounds the impression that public interest is not the driving force behind the proposed changes.

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Addressing Environmental Crimes and Marine Pollution in the EU: Legal guidelines and case studies

Author(s): Nicola Giovannini,Luigi Melica,Entela Cukani,Marco Giannotta,Malena Zingoni / Language(s): English

The purpose of this handbook is to provide to judges, prosecutors, forensic officers and other legal practitioners an overview of the existing European and international instruments and rules aimed at tackling environmental crimes and in particular marine pollution, as well as an analysis of the challenges faced in their implementation and enforcement process.

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Addressing Environmental Crimes and Marine Pollution in the EU: Compendium of International and EU Law Instruments

Author(s): Nicola Giovannini,Luigi Melica,Marco Giannotta,Malena Zingoni / Language(s): English

This publication draws upon the materials of a training course for legal professionals from selected EU Member States as well as countries on the road to EU membership, geographically located along the coast of the Adriatic sea (namely Italy, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia), which was organised by the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Salento, in partnership with The Center for the Study of Democracy and Droit au Droit. The purpose of the training sessions, held in Lecce, Italy, and Sofia, Bulgaria, was to train legal professionals on the EU legislation and jurisprudence on environmental crimes in order to strengthen their knowledge and competence in the sector as well as their capacity to contribute to their effective enforcement. It contains a presentation of the most relevant international treaties and conventions related to the matter as well as of the comprehensive legal framework established by the EU to ensure the implementation of its environmental protection policy. This publication is a part of the “Judicial Training and Research on European crimes against the environment and maritime pollution” project, supported by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice.

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Media Note: Energy Saving Technologies in the Bulgarian Residential Sector

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The growing consumer prices of electricity have remained at the center of public debates over the past months, especially following their increase last year by 13%. Even though the regulated market supresses their growth, prices have steadily increased since 2005, both in Bulgaria and in the EU. In Bulgaria, the liberalization will most likely cause an additional short-term increase in consumer prices, before open competition exerts enough pressure on the market to perform better and eventually bring prices down. In the context of these developments, measures aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings are becoming increasingly popular.

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Media Note: Why Electricity Bills in Bulgaria Spoiled the Party

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The so-called “green” premium - a market entry subsidy for renewable energy sources - was used as a convenient explanation for recent increases to the electricity bills in 2012. However, as time went by, consumers realized that a substantial part of their bills has been determined by another expense - the ”bad governance premium”, which, together with the forthcoming parliamentary elections and the increase of energy consumption during the winter, led to the ascent of social discontent and a search for new culprits for the surge in prices.

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Зелено чудовище бърка в джоба на потребителите: дали? Медийна записка

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The energy sector in Bulgaria is faced with a number of challenges, the biggest of which is poor governance. Abuses triggered by the poor management of state-owned enterprises have an impact on electricity prices for consumers. As long as the governance of state-owned enterprises remains non-transparent and pricing mechanisms remain opaque, consumer confidence in the system cannot be restored.

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Justice Sector Institutional Indicators for Criminal Case Management

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The present white paper summarises the main findings of the Justice Sector Institutional Indicators for Criminal Case Management study. It puts forward the main problems which EU countries face in measuring justice system performance – there is no single assessment model and many countries are still in the experimental phase. Besides the legal accountability mechanisms courts tend to be a subject of managerial accountability. Despite the different approaches followed by the studied EU member states and the lack of a leading assessment methodology, certain indicators as caseload, duration of the procedure, available resources per number of cases can be distinguished as best practice.

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Healthcare Reforms in Bulgaria: Towards Diagnosis and Prescription

Author(s): Konstantin Pashev / Language(s): English

The paper shows the evolution of this reform path to low compliance by both customers (contributors) and service-providers (contractors with the National Health Insurance Fund), which leads to excessive regulations and control, and crowding out of the private sector. The outcome is a system that is increasingly driven by administrative controls at the expense of market incentives. Based on this analysis it identifies the relevant policy implications and opportunities for moving the stalled health reforms out of the institutional impasse.

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Crime Trends in Bulgaria 2000 – 2005: Executive Summary of CSD Report

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The current publication focuses on the main findings from the National Crime Surveys. Toward the end of the 1990s and, particularly after the year 2000, as the prospect of EU membership became more likely, greater political stability and economic prosperity in Bulgaria led to a gradual decrease in crime. This trend, which was most perceptible in the period 2000–2005, was the result of several factors. Declining unemployment, rising incomes and economic growth provided alternatives to many individuals with criminal incomes. Demographic processes and emigration also contributed to the reduction in crime. Further strengthening of the judiciary and the law-enforcement systems, in an attempt to meet EU-set requirements, revived the criminal justice system, which in 2004 issued six times more sentences than it did in 1993.

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Българската конституционна реформа в контекста на присъединяването на Република България към Европейския съюз (2003 – 2005)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The report analyzes the Bulgarian constitutional reform (the amendments and supplements to the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria in the period 2003 – 2005) and traces the socio-political factors, which have affected it, where external factors are identified as most crucial. The two phases of the constitutional reform are examined and the determinant role of the external requirements, related to the country’s EU accession negotiations and its overall integration process are discussed. The amending and supplementing constitutional texts dealing with the reform of the judiciary (2003) and Bulgaria’s forthcoming EU membership (2005) are considered in detail.

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European Standards and Ombudsman Institutions in Southeast Europe

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The publication European Standards and Ombudsman Institutions in Southeast Europe presents a summary of the discussion at the International Conference European Standards and Ombudsman Institutions in Southeast Europe held on June 6-8, 2002, in Sofia. The conference was organized jointly by the Center for the Study of Democracy and Friedrich Ebert Foundation and was attended by ombudsmen and representatives of the institution from Sweden, Belgium, Greece, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Kosovo as well as experts and representatives of institutions and organizations from Bulgaria actively involved in the process of introducing Ombudsman institution in Bulgaria.

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Civic Defender and Local Civic Mediators: Concept Paper and Draft Law

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The publication Civic Defender and Local Civic Mediators: Concept Paper and Draft Law consists of both a concept paper and a proposal for a draft law for the establishment of the institutions of the Civic Defender and Local Civic Mediator in Bulgaria. It is the result of the extended research work carried out by the Law Program of the Center for the Study of Democracy during the period 1998 - 2002. The concept paper and the Draft law reflect the opinions and recommendations of Bulgarian and foreign experts, politicians, representatives of state institutions and non-governmental organizations provided at the numerous public discussions, meetings and consultations during this time.

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Regional Cooperation in Southeast Europe: The Bulgarian Perspective

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The objective of Regional Cooperation in Southeast Europe: The Bulgarian Perspective is to present an expert analytical response to the political and institutional opportunities that arose due to the institutional arrangements and mechanisms of implementing the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe “on the ground”. The study is the result of a project supported through a grant from the German Marshall Fund of the United States. The commitment of the European Union and other international organizations outlined in the Pact provides a crucial opportunity for accelerated economic and political/social reforms in a stable regional environment and in the context of the accession process. The Pact provides the political and institutional framework of transforming the region into an integral part of the Euro-Atlantic structures. The Pact is a unique platform brining together international organizations and countries from Western Europe and the United States with the states in the region of Southeast Europe. The paper does not provide an exhaustive coverage of Stability Pact project areas - a task completed through various other mechanisms elsewhere – but rather an emphasis of the common approaches still missing in the implementation of Pact objectives, as seen from a Bulgarian perspective. The paper thus opted for highlighting an aspect that could be seen as obvious but whose acknowledgment is not supported by practical measures – the need for common solutions to regional stabilization and development initiated and worked out by the countries themselves. In preparation of the study the Center for the Study of Democracy hosted a Round Table on “Accession to the European Union and the Stability Pact: Obstacles and Opportunities for Bulgaria and the Region.” The meeting was a part of the visit of the Working Group on the Balkan Economies at the United States Council on Foreign Relations, led by Michael Froman, former Chief of Staff at the US Department of the Treasury.

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DG Enlargement Guidelines for the Support to Civil Society in the Enlargement Region

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The enlargement countries face a range of challenges, especially in fields such as the rule of law, corruption, organised crime, the economy and social cohesion. Civil Society actors and organisations can make a substantial contribution to addressing many of these through their lobbying, advocacy and oversight activities at national, regional and local level. When it comes to democratic governance and the rule of law and fundamental rights, including freedom of expression & association and minority rights, they can create demand for enhanced transparency, accountability and effectiveness from public institutions and facilitate a greater focus on the needs of citizens in policy-making. The DG Enlargement Guidelines on the EU enlargement support to civil society are elaborated following online and national consultations. The consultations process will continue until the end of August 2013.

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Public Opinion on Non-Governmental Organizations in Bulgaria

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

A representative national survey was conducted by Vitosha Research in the month of December 1996 with the aim of registering popular attitudes to NGOs in Bulgaria. It was conducted between 1-14 December, 1996 by the personal interview method with the participation of 1,561 respondents aged over 18. Two-stage cluster sampling was used. In the first stage 250 constituencies (clusters) were randomly selected from the list of constituencies in the last parliamentary elections of 1994, and the second stage consisted in randomly selecting 7 respondents out of each cluster. The sample included 176 clusters in towns and cities and 74 clusters in villages.

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E-newsletters on the VICS initiative. Number 3. Представяне на националния доклад за България по инициативата "Подобряване на защитата на правата на пострадалите от престъпления: достъп до правна помощ"

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

E-newsletters on the progress of the initiative Improving protection of victims’ rights: access to legal aid (VICS) are regularly compiled and distributed among stakeholders to keep them informed about activities and recent developments. The newsletters include information about publications and events within the framework of the initiative and other legislative and practical updates in the area of victims’ rights.

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E-newsletters on the VICS initiative. Number 4.Кръгла маса „Формиране на дългосрочни политики за подобряване на положението на пострадалите от престъпления”

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

E-newsletters on the progress of the initiative Improving protection of victims’ rights: access to legal aid (VICS) are regularly compiled and distributed among stakeholders to keep them informed about activities and recent developments. The newsletters include information about publications and events within the framework of the initiative and other legislative and practical updates in the area of victims’ rights.

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ИЗСЛЕДВАНЕ НА ОБЩЕСТВЕНОТО МНЕНИЕ ЗА ОТНЕМАНЕ В ПОЛЗА НА ДЪРЖАВАТА НА ИМУЩЕСТВО, ПРИДОБИТО ОТ ПРЕСТЪПНА ДЕЙНОСТ

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

Between 15 and 28 September 2002, Vitosha Research conducted a national representative survey among 1000 respondents over 15 years. The study aimed to establish public opinion on the law for seizure for the benefit of the state of property acquired from criminal activity.

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Електронни инструменти за ефективно управление на наказателни дела в отделни страни - членки на ЕС

Author(s): / Language(s): Bulgarian

In recent years, public authorities have begun to adopt several statutory reforms to incorporate ICT into everyday tasks of judicial systems’ actors. In the European sphere, the concept of e-justice has been mainly developed in justice administration. This publication provides comparative analysis of current practices of justice record keeping and the electronic tools for measuring the judicial system performance in Finland, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, and England and Wales as well as an overview of the introduction of ICT in the judiciaries of Bulgaria and Poland.

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