Abstract
Apiculture is one of the relatively smaller sub-sectors of Bulgarian animal husbandry, but the role of bees in agriculture in the country is extremely important. The export nature of bee productions makes them increasingly dependent on international markets and Community policies regarding the production of food products. The common agricultural policy of the EU went through a number of transformations that have an impact on the development of Bulgarian agriculture and beekeeping in particular, which makes the assessment of this impact an important basis for their improvement in the future.
The purpose of the present study is to assess the state of Bulgarian apiculture and the influence of European policies on its development. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks: to analyze the state of Bulgarian apiculture; to present and evaluate European policies related to bee production in the country; to examine the results of the application of these policies on the sub-sector.
This study is part of a scientific project „Development of the Bulgarian agricultural sector in the context of European ecopolitics“, funded by Trakia University.
Key words: European green deal, sustainability, competitiveness, natural honey