• Kalina L. Durova
    THE IMPACT OF ABSORBED EUROPEAN FUNDS ON THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF BULGARIA AND NEW MEMBER STATES
    Summary: The aim of this research is to analyze the short- and long-term relationship between the absorbed European funds and the economic growth in the 11 new member states as a group, and in Bulgaria in particular, during the period 2014–2020. To achieve the aim of the research, we have adopted the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The results show that, as public investments, the absorbed European funds have an impact on the economic growth of the 11 new member states in the short, but not in the long term. The relationship between the economic growth and the rate of absorption of European funds in Bulgaria indicates a short-term positive, but not long-term impact of the absorbed European funds on the rate of growth of the real GDP of our country.
  • Milena Kovachevich
    ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE EUROZONE AND ON THE BALKANS: A COINTEGRATION ANALYSIS
    Summary: The global financial and economic crisis of 2008 and in particular the ensuing debt crisis in the euro area in 2009 affected both the economic growth in the euro area and the economic growth in almost all Central and Eastern European countries, including, although to a lesser degree, the Balkan countries. This lower degree of interdependence between most of the Balkan economies and the Eurozone countries is exactly the reason for this study, which aims to determine whether there is a long-term relationship between the economies of the Balkan countries and the Eurozone in general through a co-integration analysis.
  • Kalina L. Durova
    THE COHESION POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND INTER-REGIONAL DISPARITIES IN BULGARIA
    Summary: The article presents a theoretical analysis of the causes for inter-regional disparities and an empirical study on the impact of the EU Cohesion Policy on the standard of living in Bulgaria. It also gives some recommendations for maximizing the beneficial effect of this policy on the regions in our country. The author defends the thesis that the economic imbalances among regions cause social and demographic ones. Accordingly, the study focuses on the economic inter-regional differences and the way they are affected by the Cohesion (Regional) policy of the European Union as a tool utilized by the Community to achieve economic and social cohesion.
  • Kalina L. Durova
    Cohesion Policy of the European Union: Evolution, Challenges and Prospects
    Summary: The article analyzes the historical development of the Cohesion (Regional) Policy of the European Union and outlines the main challenges and perspectives facing it. Recommendations are formulated for its improvement in the future.
  • Yordan Neykov
    Issues Facing the European Union – a SWOT Analysis
    JEL: F15, F51
    Summary: The new realities facing the European Union at the beginning of the XXI century placed it in an unpredictable situation of crisis, geopolitical conflict and overindebtedness. These conditions slowed the pace of development and led in fact to the economic slowdown in the European Union - with modest GDP growth in 2013 and low inflation. The European Union has been facing a number of internal difficulties and many threats from the external environment. For this reason there is a need for analysis that takes into account both the internal state of the European Union and the external environment which was characterised by high complexity and dynamics in the period 2008 - 2014.
  • Silviya Todorova Petkova
    PROBLEMS AFORE THE CONVERGENCE OF THE PLANNING REGIONS IN BULGARIA
    JEL: F15, F36
    Summary: In the present article an analysis is made of the achievements and problems faced by the six planning regions in our country, related to their goals for reducing regional disparities. This is achieved through the analysis of key indicators that serve to measure cohesion in each of its three aspects. In this way it will be established whether the EU Cohesion Policy conducted in our country in the first for our country (MFF) 2007-2013 and in the second (MFF) 2014-2020 have an effect and to what extent this effect has the effect of reducing or deepening regional disparities. For the purposes of the study, the mean-absolute deviation (MAD) and the coefficient of variation (CV) were used as tools for quantitative data analysis. The results of the study confirm the thesis of scientists and authors working in the field that there is no significant progress in reducing disparities between regions in our country.