This project has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
(Grant Agreement n. 669194)
The party course regarding the European Economic Community (EEC) left the state institutions significant room for manoeuvre as long as they did not make official diplomatic approaches to the EEC organs. Their internal discussions concerning the EEC and the right approach to it focused most of all on the question of how to mitigate or circumvent its trade barriers. Much of the debate at the ministerial level concerned opportunities (or the lack thereof) for bringing up these problems with Bulgarian exports in bilateral negotiations with the EEC member states.
Within the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the general consensus was on keeping up the commercial flow. There were no arguments in favour of reducing the trade volume but only ones on how to increase exports so that the cost of hard-currency imports could be offset. The essentially pragmatic internal debates tackled necessary adjustments to the export structure (mainly, a shift from agriculture to machinery) and to the geographical distribution of imports – above all, ways to increase purchases from the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) members at the expense of the EEC members. However, even when such reductions were debated, they were relative and proposed alongside a constant increase in trade exchange with the EEC.
The official line in both the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the two state institutions most engaged in formulating policy towards the EEC – followed the limits set by the party. The nature of communications with the EEC was not open to discussion. Contacts had to be purely technical and avoid any approaches that could be construed as formal recognition of the EEC’s supranational authority. However, many longer-term strategies endorsed at the ministerial level included vague provisions about establishing official contacts once all other options for improving terms of trade failed. The preferred options involved first and foremost collective bargaining by the socialist bloc.
While “conflicts among capitalist countries” was a standard cliché in debates on European integration, the officials in the ministries usually also emphasised that such conflicts would not weaken the overall trend of deepening integration. Accordingly, the state apparatus tried to adhere to a realistic policy of improving economic relations with the EEC by way of increasing cooperation instead of reducing exposure. The first wave of EEC enlargement in 1973 unsurprisingly stirred much commotion within the state administration. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Trade, sometimes jointly with the Ministry of Finance, commissioned their experts to prepare an avalanche of evaluations, analyses and forecasts of the impact of the EEC’s enlargement on Bulgaria. The focus of discussion was on the economic effects on Bulgarian foreign trade, whereas the political implications of West European integration for the interaction between the two blocs were not of particular concern until the late 1970s. Nevertheless, not all dimensions of the integration were seen in a critical light. The prospective monetary union, for example, was evaluated as promising for East-West trade because currency stabilisation could only contribute to economic normalisation after the abandonment of the Bretton Woods system.
In debates on negative economic impacts, two issues were of key importance: the enlargement of the EEC, particularly the membership of the UK and later of Greece, and EEC special agreements with non-members, above all the Mediterranean countries. The state agencies saw these kinds of ‘special relations’ as damaging to the competitiveness of Bulgarian goods to a far greater extent than the tariffs resulting from the customs union. Another subject of intense discussion was what the state administration identified as ‘para-tariff taxation’ – i.e. compensation and antidumping fees, higher standards and quality norms, customs formalities etc. – which, it concluded, created additional trade complications for Bulgarian exports.
In the second half of the 1970s when technical contacts with the EEC became more difficult, debates within the state administration were framed by rising suspicion of the EEC Commission and its true intentions. For example, when during negotiations on exemptions for certain goods the Commission representative underscored reciprocal difficulties with member states’ exports to the Bulgarian market because of a lack of reliable statistics on national production and consumption, the state officials perceived the Commission’s request for hard data as a ruse to obtain confidential information on the national economy.
Generally, the state institutions preferred bilateral negotiations with EEC member states or negotiations with EEC sectoral experts to any talks with the Commission, where they felt under pressure to grant official recognition and where they felt the focus shifted from economic interests to diplomatic issues.
* This text summarises some of the research findings of PanEur1970s team member Elitza Stanoeva, which are published as a chapter in PanEur1970s’ academic edited book. For a link to the e-book, please see Bulgaria’s “Overview” webpage of this map.
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Information on the EEC and the energy crisis
TsDA, f. 1477, op. 30, a.e. 565 | l. 6-17
Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Memo
TsDA, f. 1477, op. 30, a.e. 565 | l. 1-5
Reporting on the meeting of Stefan Radnev (Bulgarian Ambassador in Brussels) with Mr. de Dobler (head of Department of Foreign Economic Relations at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) at which they talked about bilateral trade relations as well as the potential relations between the EEC and the CMEA and the oil crisis. - Available only in the archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Information on the EEC member-states and the long-term agreement for economic, industrial and scientific-technical cooperation with socialist countries
TsDA, f. 1477, op. 30, a.e. 565 | l. 28-48
Analyzing the position of all member-states of the EEC on trade relations with the socialist countries as well as the proposals of the Commission in this regard from 23 October 1973 (attached to the Information: Propositions de la Commission Europeenne visant a inserer dans les procedures communautaires les "Accords de cooperation" des etats membres avec les pays de l'Est) - Available only in the archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Information on conducted meetings on the issues of the EEC relations with the Arab countries
TsDA, f. 1477, op. 30, a.e. 567 | l. 8-10a
Petar Avramov, Third Secretary at Bulgaria's Embassy in Brussel, compiled an analysis of the anticipated results from the Euro-Arab dialogue based on his various meetings with an employee at the EEC organs, a journalist and officials from the Arab embassies in Brussels, he compiled an analysis of the anticipated results from the Euro-Arab dialogue. - Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Memo on a meeting with an employee of the EEC Commission concerning the relations EEC-CMEA
TsDA, f. 1477, op. 31, a.e. 521 | l. 62-70
Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Report to Lyuben Petrov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
TsDA, f. 1477, op. 31, a.e. 542 | l. 17-19
Reporting on the convention in Brussels of a work group of economists from socialist countries, experts on the the EEC, aiming to discuss the changes in the EEC's credit policy towards third countries and the results from technical contacts with the Commission. - Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Report on the stance of People's Republic of Bulgaria towards the European Economic Community (Common Market)
TsDA, f. 1B, op. 35, a.e. 12 | l. 17-28
In support of the proposed resolution on "Considerations for the directions of the foreign-economic relations of PR Bulgaria with the countries in the European Economic Community (Common Market)" adopted by Politburo on 16 January 1968. - Available here |
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Report on the endorsement of a conception about the strategy and tactics of People's Republic of Bulgaria's foreign trade
TsDA, f. 1B, op. 35, a.e. 1202 | l. 5-22
Available here. |
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Report regarding the approval of the proposals for the possible rules, forms and content of contacts of the CMEA with the European Economic Community
TsDA, f. 1B, op. 35, a.e. 4142 | l. 26-29
Backing a resolution under consideration at Politburo session on 15 May 1973 which eventually endorsed "Proposals for the possible rules, forms and content of contacts of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance with the European Economic Community" drafted at CMEA and then distributed among its member states. - Available here |
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Information on conducted “technical contacts” between representatives of Bulgarian foreign trade organizations and experts at EEC Commission, 18-19 April 1972
TsDA, f. 1Б, op. 81А, a.e. 171 | l. 10-14
Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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EEC's Paris summit in October 1972 and the standpoint of Belgium (short info)
TsDA, f. 1Б, op. 81А, a.e. 183 | l. 5-17
Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Belgium and the activity of the EEC's Council of Ministers in 1973 (short info)
TsDA, f. 1Б, op. 81А, a.e. 183 | l. 18-23
Discussing enlargement and the next steps of integration as enhancing supranational powers of all EC organs. - Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Belgium and Spain's relations with the EEC (info note)
TsDA, f. 1Б, op. 81А, a.e. 183 | l. 24-27
Reporting on Davignon's visit in Spain and the talks he held with the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs about the timeline of Spain's accession negotiations. - Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Memo on the EEC's policy in Southeast Asia
TsDA, f. 1Б, op. 81А, a.e. 183 | l. 28-32
Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Memo on the policy of Belgium and the EEC in the Middle East
TsDA, f. 1Б, op. 81А, a.e. 183 | l.33-39
Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Memo
TsDA, f. 1Б, op. 81А, a.e. 186 | l. 1-4
Reporting on the speech of Étienne Davignon on European security and the EEC summit in Paris during a lunch in honor of the new Belgian ambassador to the USSR and Mongolia. - Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Building economic and monetary union – a new phase in West European integration
TsDA, f. 259, op. 32, a.e. 18 | l. 48-100
Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Information on the EEC's common foreigh-trade policy towards socialist countries
TsDA, f. 259, op. 32, a.e. 26 | l. 2-9
Discussing the contradictions and frictions between the positions of the individual member-states on trade policy with the socialist states, mainly between the positions of the FRG and France. - Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Report to Tano Tsolov, Chairman, Commission for Economic and Scientific-Technological Cooperation
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 100 | l. 187-193
Reporting on the third round of technical contacts with the EEC conducted in March 1972 and the agreement to exempt more types of exports from additional taxes along with proposals for new negotiations with the EEC Commission. - Available only in the archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Report to Ivan Nedev, Minister, Ministry of Foreign Trade
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 100 | l. 194-196
Reporting on conducted technical contacts with the EEC. - Available only in the archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Report to Tano Tsolov, Chairman, Commission for Economic and Scientific-Technological Cooperation
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 103 | l. 106-108
Reporting on the trade negotiations with Italy and the refusal of the Italian delegations to apply UNCTAD preferences to Bulgarian exports because of an EEC resolution on that matter. - Available only in the archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Report on the concrete issues that People's Republic of Bulgaria could raise on bilateral and multilateral basis with the "Common Market"
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 109 | l. 371-380
Arguing for the need to combine bilateral negotiations with EEC member states with multilateral negotiations with the EEC organs conducted by the CMEA. Available only in the Archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Report to Tano Tsolov, Chairman, Commission for Economic and Scientific-Technological Cooperation
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 111 | l. 213-216
Reporting that in light of forthcoming renewals of bilateral trade agreements with EEC member states, the respective governments announced that the prerogatives to carry such negotiations had shifted to the EEC Commission. - Available only in the archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Information on the West European countries and the opportunities for establsihing contacts between the EEC and the CMEA
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 367 | l. 108-121
Discussing the possible responses of the EEC to Brezhnev's proposal for establishing contacts between the EEC and the CMEA. - Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Report to Ivan Bashev, Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 459 | l. 389-393
Mihail Paskalev, Deputy Head of Economic Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports on his meeting with the ambassador of the UK in Sofia to request the inclusion of Bulgaria in the UNCTAD's Generalized Scheme of Preferences adopted by the UK in its foreign trade; ultimately, they also discussed at lenght the UK's accession to the EEC and what it entailed for British trade with non-members. - Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
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Information on the impact of the Common Market’s expansion and EEC’s free-trade treaties with Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Iceland and Portugal on People's Republic of Bulgaria’s economic relations with these countries
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 460 | l. 125-147
Arguing that enhancing political consolidation and economic coordination within the EEC is designed mainly in opposition to the socialist bloc. - Available only in the archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Report on the state’s additional considerations regarding its position towards the EEC
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 88 | l. 51-72
Discussing the negative effects of the EEC's enlargement and deepening integration on the trade opportunities of socialist countries. - Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Report to Tano Tsolov, Chairman, Commission for Economic
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 89 | l. 188-193
Reporting on the technical contacts with the EEC that the Ministry of Foreign Trade conducted in October 1969 and December 1970 and the agreement they reached as well as the decision to initiate a new round of negotiations. - Available only in the archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Letter to Stanko Todorov, Chairman, Council of Ministers
TsDA, f. 259, op. 36, a.e. 99 | l. 77-81
Reporting on a confidential document received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the FRG and containing the West German government's internal assessment of the opportunities and limits for economic cooperation with the socialist countries within the EEC. - Available only in the archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Report on the implementation of bilateral meeting between People's Republic of Bulgaria and EEC representatives within GATT’s multilateral trade negotiations
TsDA, f. 259, op. 44, a.a. 921 | l. 93-102
Available only in the archive: http://www.archives.government.bg |
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Memo on a conversation with the Soviet Minister of Fishery A.A. Ishkov on the negotiations between USSR and the EEC concerning fishery
АМVnR, op. 33, a.e. 499 | l. 2-3
Available only in the archive http://www.archives.government.bg/ |
