Bulgaria's 50th National Assembly Ends With Little Accomplishment as Another Election Looms

In just a day, the 50th National Assembly will begin its summer vacation, which is only scheduled to be interrupted once for the swearing in of the caretaker government. At the beginning of September, the deputies will briefly reconvene in the plenary hall before breaking again for the upcoming election campaign.

Unless there are unforeseen developments or significant shifts in attitude, the parliament has only a few sessions remaining before it concludes. The record of its brief three-month existence is disheartening. Efforts to find governing formulas and the fragmentation of parliamentary groups have rendered substantial legislative progress nearly impossible, overshadowed by the looming early elections.

MPs have largely engaged in unproductive ministerial hearings, with the few laws passed either involving technical amendments or aimed at electoral mobilization, such as the Russian-style law addressing non-traditional sexual orientations.

Deputy Ivaylo Valchev from "There Is Such a People" previously described the last days of the 49th National Assembly as marked by futile activities, a sentiment that applies equally to the current parliament. Informal discussions with MPs suggest that key reforms, such as those needed to unblock payments under the European Recovery and Resilience Plan or amendments to the judiciary law limiting Supreme Court appointments, are likely to remain unaddressed.

Furthermore, the parliament will probably not attempt to fill over 90 positions in key state bodies that have been vacant for years. On its final day before the break, MPs are set to discuss changes to the Environmental Law, including the removal of the option for second-instance appeals in environmental impact assessment cases for major national projects. They will also review European updates to the independent financial audit law and finalize parliamentary delegations for international organizations. Additionally, social laws on personal assistance and child benefits will be examined as is customary before elections.

The proposed changes regarding the removal of Anti-Corruption Commission head Anton Slavchev and the election of a European Commissioner by the Parliament will likely be deferred until September. Since the parliament's inception, the focus has predominantly been on ministerial hearings addressing various issues, from energy and the Recovery and Resilience Plan to less critical matters like motorcycle noise.

Legislative surprises were minimal, with only certain changes made to the Labor Code, the Euro Adoption Act, and key defense texts. The parliament's approach is expected to continue along this path.

Significant legislation did pass, such as the amendments to the Law on School and Preschool Education proposed by "Revival." The pro-Kremlin nationalist party succeeded in passing its controversial texts, including a ban on "propaganda" of non-traditional sexual orientations in schools, despite the lack of evidence for its existence.

The parliament has also failed to advance any reforms related to the National Plan for Recovery and Sustainability. The Acting Finance Minister, Lyudmila Petkova, highlighted the risk of losing part of the second tranche of the plan, amounting to 1.27 billion leva, which is crucial for the 2024 budget. The minister declined to predict the exact amount that might be lost, but her predecessor, Asen Vassilev from "We Continue the Change," estimated it could be around 1 billion leva. The parliament's efforts to adopt necessary reforms, including the Law on Whistleblowers and the Personal Bankruptcy Law, have once again stalled.