Enlargement of the European Union and human rights : the case of Bulgaria: an insight to the political conditionality

Abstract

This paper looks at the relation between human rights conditionality and enlargement of the European Union. It is divided in two parts: first, it studies the place of democracy and human rights and their conditionality in the recent history of the European Union Enlargement, analysing its evolution as the EU increased its integration and number of Member States. It later shifts to focus its attention on the accession of Bulgaria to the EU and studies the treatment given by the European Commission and the European Council to the Political Criteria during the process of accession of Bulgaria. To this end, this paper analyses the main instruments provided at the time: the Accession Partnerships and the Regular Reports. An assessment of the accession of Bulgaria to the Council of Europe is introduced in order to throw greater clarity about the evolution of the country since 1990.