The word "encouragement" has its roots in Old French (deeper than that, in late vulgar Latin, but encouragier has a more apparent familiarity). It is appropriate to settle on that etymology, because even in these difficult times, there is encouragement to be found in the dynamics between France and Bulgaria.
 
Even amid the global financial and economic crisis that left many investors wavering at the post, two major French investments are going ahead in Bulgaria. There are more investors interested, awaiting the correct moves from the Government in Sofia. French tourist numbers are up, albeit from a low base, but it is a trend that is encouraging. France’s labour market may be closed in part to Bulgaria – significant parts of it are not – and on this point, French ambassador Etienne de Poncins says: "There is no difficulty for Bulgarians, on the contrary, I invite them to come to France, to take advantage of these opportunities".

De Poncins has been ambassador in Sofia since the early summer of 2007; he has seen the high moments (the release from Libya of the Bulgarian nurses, arriving courtesy of a French government aircraft) and the low (that crisis).

On European level, given that his term here has come close to spanning most of Bulgaria’s first years in the European Union, he has joined in the role played by the French in building aLisbon Treaty-era EU and a Europe striving to defeat the economic crisis and to prevent another.
 
European
In the context of the crisis and the Lisbon Treaty that came into effect just as this continent was on a quest for a recovery and a new economic competitiveness, De Poncins says that it is the very need for strong co-ordination at EU level that has inspired France to work for reinforced co-operation.

"The answer to the crisis will come when we co-ordinate together, be more proactive and exchange good practices," he says in an interview with The Sofia Echo.

Regarding Bulgaria, he says that its macro-economic figures are not bad, taking into account the decreased performance of the economy compared with last year: "We are still confident that the Government and Finance Minister Dyankov will be able to avoid the deficit becoming too big".

However, De Poncins says, a point of concern is the dramatic decrease in foreign investment last year, and the fact that it was close to zero in the first quarter of 2010.

"This is very bad news for Bulgaria, because Bulgaria needs foreign investment to improve its industrial capacity and to improve its exports." On the French side, an encouraging note is the fact that Carrefour and Veolia Water, the latter the company that is taking the majority stake in Sofiiska Voda, have been going ahead with their investments.

"We can see some small signs of recovery, of hope, and while French investors have a modest share in Bulgaria, during the crisis they have maintained their position and even increased their presence."
 
Investment
French investment in Bulgaria is worth about 800 million euro, and supports directly the employment of about 10 000 Bulgarians. The Embassy pursues the objective to reach the level of one billion soon.

Major French companies are represented; in the banking sector, SG Expressbank, BNP Paribas and Emporiki, the latter of a subsidiary of Credit Agricole that is to rebrand itself to emphasise its CA character; Renault, Citroen, Peugeot; Carrefour; Montupet; Schneider Electric, are among these companies.

Asked for his view on the outlook for further major French investment, De Poncins said that the trend will depend in the main on the Bulgarian authories.

"Some French companies are interested in the Bulgarian market in the water and utility sector, the gas sector, and so they are waiting for privatisation, for example some French companies could be interested in Toplofikatsia Sofia, others could be interested in the water reforms.

"It depends on the Government, if they launch interesting PPP (public private partnerships) in the road sector and the water utilities sector, this could interest some important French companies."

There is, he says, continuous interest on the part of French companies, but Bulgaria lacks an image in France.

"Bulgarian authorities are aware of that, I’m sure. And in a very competitive world, sometimes it is difficult for a French company to come here because it is not that they have a bad image ofBulgaria, they do not have any image of Bulgaria at all."

Tourism, as noted, has seen an upward trend, with a 20 per cent increase in 2009, to 140 000 French visitors. A lot of them, discerning and sophisticated travellers, have much less interest inBulgaria’s Black Sea mass tourism than in cultural and alternative destinations in villages, rural areas and scenic conservation spots. France played its part in seeking to encourage Bulgaria to do more in this regard with the Green Days project earlier in 2010.
 
Entrée
The EU is changing, with the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty.

De Poncins says that the Treaty represents a positive signal, a step in the right direction: "It is not a revolution". Now will be the time of developing and shaping new institutions envisaged by the Treaty, such as the office of European Council President and of the EU foreign policy chief and the European External Action Service (EEAS), and of ensuring that these institutions deliver.

Allowance is made for the fact that the people who head these institutions, Herman van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton respectively, are new to them – as are the institutions themselves, with the EEAS still being developed.

"The context, of course, is demanding because with this crisis we see every day that there is a strong need for a more effective EU." This is true even in the context of the countries like theUnited Kingdom, in principle reserved about the EU, but in practice pragmatic, De Poncins said.

For Bulgaria, an important issue is its hoped-for accession to the Schengen visa-free zone, pencilled in for 2011.

Asked about the debate in some circles that links any decision on Bulgaria’s Schengen accession to the continuing process of the EU’s Co-operation and Verification Mechanism – put in place in 2007 to help get Bulgaria (and Romania) up to EU standards in justice and home affairs, De Poncins says that from the legal point of view, "there is no link whatsoever" between the CVM process and the Schengen decision.

"But, of course, you have also the political aspect, and in this regard, we do not yet have a position, but it’s clear that there is an informal link among some between the two processes."
He says that in some countries, it could be difficult to explain to the public if Bulgaria, still involved in the CVM process, was to be admitted to the Schengen zone.

France, he says, has taken no strong position on the matter.

"It’s too early to decide if the goal to lift physical control of the border by March 2011 is realistic or not, this time will come at the end of this year, most probably, but it’s true that the final decision will be political."

The decision will be taken unanimously, "and one way or another, the progress made, or not, regarding the CVM will be taken into consideration by our leaders".
 
Judgment
At the time of the interview, expectations were that the latest European Commission report on Bulgaria and the CVM would be released around July 11; however, media reports suggested that the report would come later, probably in August.

Asked about his expectations, De Poncins said that these were that the report would be "encouraging".

"Why? It’s obvious that this Government is determined to make progress on these very important issues of the fight against corruption and organised crime," De Poncins says.

"You can say that Mr Borissov was elected on that programme, it is one of the main issues for the country, along with the economic crisis."

Progress has been made, De Poncins says, especially in police anti-crime operations.

"We see every day very high profile police operations, sometimes too high profile, with the cameras and so on, but that’s another story;" he says. However, he emphasises, the crucial issue is the judiciary, still not progressing with the same dynamism, though he adds that the Mario Nikolov trial (producing guilty verdicts and serious sentences for abuses of millions of euro in EU funds) was a positive success.

Similarly, De Poncins welcomes the developments of the Borilski case, "but we do not see enough people being found guilty, being jailed; quite often we see a very spectacular operation, and then four or five days later, the people are freed on bail of very small sums".

"This is a crucial point. Justice was a crucial point and is still a crucial issue.

"This is not just my analysis, it’s the common analysis of all my EU colleagues," he says, "that’s why we insist so much on judicial reform."

He adds that the recently-adopted changes to the Penal Procedure Code are to be welcomed and will improve judicial proceedings, "but this is not sufficient to see the tremendous changes that we are expecting".
 
Labour market
Asked about France’s position on labour market access for Bulgarians, given that his country remains one of several that limits such access, De Poncins says that those countries who decided on unrestricted access with the 2004 and 2007 expansions have encountered some problems.

France’s more measured approach, of expanding access step-by-step, is the more appropriate one, De Poncins believes. He adds that the reality is that there is little interest among Bulgarians in coming to work in those professions that remain closed to them.

"At this stage, there are 150 professions which are totally open for Bulgarians; this covers a large part of the French labour market, including nurses, construction, wood and metal industries, transport, trade, management, finance, engineering, IT, research… there is no difficulty for Bulgarians, on the contrary, I invite them to come to France, to take advantage of these opportunities."