Bulgaria is currently facing delays in passing key legislation, with the government focused on distributing the state budget through sectors and preparing for Eurozone accession in 2026, according to PPG Lawyers Managing Partner Irena Georgieva. Regulatory changes are expected, and the IT sector remains strong and innovative.
"In Bulgaria, there are numerous laws in the pipeline as the government tries to catch up with various pending issues, especially since they have been occupied with the state budget for quite some time," Georgieva begins. "What we’ve observed is that after the budget was voted on, no specific details were provided on how it would impact different sectors. The budget allocation is very broad, with funds expected to be redistributed across various sectors. In the field of public procurement, we’re still waiting to see if our clients can be part of major public procurement projects and whether any ministry will have sufficient resources to manage them."
The current global landscape, according to Georgieva, "is influencing the mentality of the government, as new challenges extend far beyond national issues." Europe will become "a more attractive environment for the development of technology, and I hope this shift will align with regulatory advancements," she adds. "In Europe, the priority has been to balance innovation with fundamental rights, but this approach has made processes slower. While it’s sustainable in the long run, it’s certainly slower compared to the more pragmatic, market-driven approach seen in the US, especially with the influence of tech giants."
Georgieva further believes that both Bulgaria and the EU will move toward regulatory simplification. "There are already expectations that the GDPR would be simplified (the EU is awaiting to provide a proposal soon) due to the ongoing discussions surrounding the EU AI Act. This regulatory simplification will require changes at both the national and EU levels, and although the process will be difficult, it’s necessary," she says. "I hope the Bulgarian government will focus on this as well since it remains a significant part of our work. Everyone is watching developments surrounding AI and the EU AI Act, but there are tensions with how it intersects with GDPR as well as how it can apply uniformly across the vastly different sectors where AI is being used."
"The government is expected to start voting on and drafting delayed laws soon, many of which were supposed to be voted on a long time ago. These include the transposition of EU directives, such as the Cybersecurity Act to transpose NIS2, and there’s a lot going on in this regard," Georgieva notes. "On the IT front, things are going well. Due to global restructuring and market shifts from the US to Europe, the IT sector is becoming increasingly innovative."
Additionally, a key focus for Bulgaria is "entering the Eurozone by January 2026, and the government has indicated that by summer, we should have a clearer picture of whether this will happen as planned. We are optimistic that the government will remain stable during this period to avoid jeopardizing the process," Georgieva points out.
Finally, "we also anticipate changes in supervisory and regulatory bodies, particularly the Commission for Personal Data Protection, with shifts expected not just at the leadership level but also among commission members," Georgieva highlights. "Regarding competition, we expect also changes in the national regulatory body, and this will likely have implications for our work. Given the changes at the supervisory level, it’s important for us to take a moment to observe the new approach and focus of the regulators before reacting."
