The meeting was opened by the Prime Minister, Lyuben Berov, who was followed by the Finance Minister, Stoyan Alexandrov, who gave a gloomy assessment of the country's recent economic difficulties. The Minister of Labour and Deputy Prime Minister, Evgeny Matinchev, then gave an assessment of the evolution of social and labour market policy, highlighting the importance of the Government's White Paper on Social Insurance and the Ministry's Employment Strategy, both presented for discussion at the meeting. The Team had commented on the latter, which had drawn on its earlier work, and had collaborated with the ILO's Social Security Department in providing extensive advice on the White Paper.

Following the Ministers, the Team Director reiterated the main recommendations of The Bulgarian Challenge in a speech in which he stated that he hoped that the spirit of tripartism would be strengthened, given the current impasse in the Tripartite Council. He urged that a negotiated incomes policy be considered, given the re-acceleration of inflation, the lev's sharp devaluation, an official unemployment rate of 20% and the impending threat of a general strike.

The two-day meeting had an intangible benefit even before it took place. Because it was scheduled and regarded as important, it obliged the Bulgarian authorities to take stock of their policies and the obstacles to implementation. Although the Government has been a fragile coalition for over a year, it has managed to present a substantial Employment Promotion and Unemployment Protection Bill to Parliament and has prepared a radical White Paper on social insurance. One may criticise these reforms on matters of detail, yet in the difficult political and economic circumstances, the authorities deserve to be encouraged to accelerate their implementation.

The meeting also brought out important policy debates, in a spirit of constructive discussion. For instance, the World Bank spokesman called for a considerable cut in social expenditure, stating that this was the only way to cut the government's budget deficit, which in his view had to be brought down a long way. The ILO, represented by the Social Security Department's Director, Colin Gillion, and the Director of ILO-CEET, pointed out that the data to support that argument were poor or non-existent, and argued for a pragmatic approach, especially bearing in mind the high unemployment and that over half the population were in acute poverty.

The debate hinged on assumptions about social spending "crowding out" other expenditure, the capacity of the state to cut the deficit by raising revenue rather than by cutting expenditure given that less than a third of tax and contribution revenue has been collected - and the dynamic effects of social security and labour market policy reform.

The G24 meeting completed a sequence of activities in Bulgaria by the Team, which has produced a detailed Country Objectives Review, helped SEC/ SOC carry out actuarial work for the social security reform with the Ministry of Labour and organised comprehensive analyses of various labour market policies. The next phase will extend technical work in accordance with the proposed work place submitted to, and supported by, the Bulgarian authorities, trade unions and employer organisations.

Social and labour market reforms in the country must be accelerated, and we hope that social bargaining will be strengthened in the Tripartite Council, so as to increase consensus on such essential reforms as negotiated incomes policy, social protection and labour market policies. Despite severe economic constraints - including the impact of the war in ex Yugoslavia - much could be done to ameliorate the social and economic difficulties being faced by the population. A sense of urgency must be preserved. GS.