The pro-European parties GERB and DPS have made common cause with their Eurosceptic counterparts, the Socialist Party “Bulgarian Awakening” (BV) and the openly anti-Western party “Renaissance”, to sabotage a legislative attempt to bring Bulgaria closer to EU integration. euro area.
The integration of Bulgaria into the euro area by 1 January 2024 requires a revision of the Bulgarian Insurance Code. However, a bill presented in the Economic Commission of Parliament amending this famous Code was unsuccessful, because the refractory deputies never showed up.
Bulgaria’s parliament is expected to be dissolved on Wednesday (February 1) after a government fails to be elected, and snap general elections are scheduled for April 2.
The chairman of the Economic Commission, Martin Dimitrov (Democratic Bulgaria), said he was outraged that the conservative GERB party and the liberal “Movement of Rights and Freedoms” (DPS) party are sabotaging one of the most important parliamentary initiatives for allow Bulgaria enters the Eurozone. “Failing to (join) the eurozone and saying you’re pro-euro is demagoguery”said Mr. Dimitrov.
Alexander Ivanov, who was one of two GERB MPs present, defended the party’s behavior by arguing that it wanted to protect Bulgarian drivers from the increase in insurance prices that the reform would cause.
The changes to the Insurance Code seriously affect the interests of the sector. European institutions are putting pressure on Bulgaria to solve the problem of non-payment of its old obligations to the international “green card” system. This regulates the operation of compulsory car insurance “Civil Liability” in nearly 50 countries, reports the Bulgarian news site media pool.
In 2018, Bulgaria requested that surveillance be imposed on it as the obligations of the Bulgarian green card office amounted to 19.6 million euros, said the chairman of the board of directors of the office, Borisslav Bogoev. In 2021, the commitments already amount to around 8-9 million euros with interest. In the same period, the commitments of the other countries in the system increased from 7.6 million euros to 49.3 million euros.
The Bulgarian office claims that national insurance companies are victims of serious and systematic insurance fraud, especially in Italy and Romania, where criminal organizations operate. The case was sent to the Bulgarian, Italian and European prosecutors.
To pave the way to the eurozone, Finance Minister Rositsa Velkova proposes to introduce into the Insurance Code the obligation to timely pay the amounts due abroad. You suggest that this requirement applies regardless of whether documents have been sent to victims abroad in respect of damages and compensation. Bulgarian insurers warn that this could result in a loss of funds for Bulgarian insurers and an increase in the price of “Third Party Liability” for Bulgarians.
Bulgaria is due to report to the European Commission on February 13 on meeting its commitments even though it is still in the eurozone’s “waiting room”.
At the same time, the anti-Western party “Renaissance” is collecting signatures for the organization of a referendum aimed at saving the Bulgarian lev and postponing eurozone membership for 20 years.
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