CAFÉ EUROPE - Transition and happiness B

Within the European Union Bulgaria has long been cited as an example to illustrate the limits of the transformative power of the EU. [...] A recent EU report pointed to “the escape from justice of convicted leaders of organised crime” and noted “there remain very few cases where crimes of corruption or organised crime have been brought to conclusion in court.” Has the process of EU enlargement as a motor of change failed in Bulgaria, as the conventional wisdom in many EU capitals suggests? In fact, the narrative of Bulgaria’s failed. [...] Suicide rates have fallen sharply since the mid-90s and according to the most recent data of Eurostat were lower than in Denmark, the Netherlands or Austria, and in fact the lowest among all former communist members of the EU. [...] Comparisons between the present and the (socialist) past are a source of frustration for many of those old enough to have experienced the golden era of Bulgarian communism. [...] Protests led to the resignation of the government in February 2013, the resignation of the Varna Mayor in March 2013 and the resignation of the new head of State Agency for National Security in June 2013.