Paper Titles & Abstracts

The paper explores the performance of the Phare programme for Civil Society Development in Bulgaria. It focuses on the assistance to the civil society actors in enhancing their skills and capacity to take an active part in the process of accession and EU policy-making. By identifying and analysing the current state of the beneficiary organisations under the various calls, the text illustrates the stages in the development of the Phare programme, the institutional deficiencies it confronts in its operation, the inconsistencies in its implementation and the various issues of consideration it brought in civil society development in the country.The research combines institutional analysis, quantitative and qualitative data, and analysis of publicly available information on the state of development of the various organisations. The focal point is to examine whether and to what extent Phare programme for Civil Society Development has achieved its objectives; has it been conducive to strengthening the civil society or has it been captured by domestic dynamics. The paper contributes to the study of the domestic dimension of Europeanization and to the literature on EU democratic conditionality by drawing conclusions on the Phare programme impact on civil society development in Bulgaria.