Joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is among the main foreign policy priorities of the Republic of Bulgaria. On January 25, 2022, the OECD Council decided to start a discussion about the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria, and on June 10, 2022, a Roadmap for the process of Bulgaria’s accession to the Organization was officially handed over. In 2022, a Decision of the Council of Ministers was adopted on the organization and coordination of the process of discussions and preparatory activities for the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria to the OECD, and in November 2022, in implementation of the Road Map, Bulgaria adopted and sent to the OECD an Initial Memorandum.

Based on its status as a country in process of accession, Bulgaria participates in the meetings of OECD committees and their subsidiary bodies, with the committees carrying out in-depth technical reviews of Bulgarian legislation, policies and practices through active exchange with relevant institutions. In 2022, the Council of Ministers adopted a Decision on the designation of lead and partner institutions under the legal instruments of the OECD, and the authorities specified in the Decision are responsible for ensuring compliance with each individual legal instrument of the OECD.

The Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) has shared competences, together with other institutions, regarding the work in the following structures:

The Insurance and  Private Pensions Committee (IPPC),

The Financial Markets Committee (FMC) and

The Corporate Governance Committee (CGC).

The FSC is in charge together with the Ministry of Finance (MоF) of the review by the IPPC, and for the other two committees it has the functions of a partner institution. In communication with all involved institutions, the preparation of self-assessments of compliance with each individual legal instrument of the OECD was organized in the areas in which the FSC has competence as a lead or partner institution.

The FSC also provides information on other committees, relative to the topics of its competence, such as the Regulatory Policy Committee and the Trade Committee. Accession to eight legal instruments is considered a mandatory condition in the Framework for the Assessment of Potential Member Countries, with the Bulgarian supervisory authority engaged in three of these fundamental legal instruments – the reviews under the OECD Codes of Liberalization of Capital Movements and of Current Invisible Operations, on the Council Recommendation on Principles for Corporate Governance, as well as on the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

FSC is a member of the permanent national Inter-agency Coordination Mechanism (ICM), which was created with a view to improving coordination and speeding up actions on joining the OECD and which is chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The FSC carries out a continuous exchange of information with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its capacity as the national coordinator for cooperation with the OECD, as well as with the other institutions responsible for the implementation of reviews by the OECD committees.

More information about the accession process of the Republic of Bulgaria to the OECD and the benefits of membership can be found on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the following link: https://www.mfa.bg/bg/bg-oecd