The Economic and Social Council was established under a special act (published in the Official Journal, Nr. 41/2001; amended in Official Journal Nr. 120/2002; amended in Official Journal Nr. 20/2003), as an independent consultative body for expressing the will of the civil society organizations on the economic and social development of the country. The Economic and Social Council is a corporate body at budget support with headquarters in Sofia.

The goals of the council as stated by the Law are:

·         to provide the participation of a wide circle of representatives of the civil society in the public and economic life, strengthening the principles of the constitutional democratic and social state;

·         to serve as a permanent institutional form of the social dialogue and the consultations on the economic and social policy between the government and the structures of the civil society;

·         to answer to the legal aspirations of the social and economic groups, to the structures of the civil society to express opinion, statements and proposals regarding acts of the legislative and executive authority having impact on their interests.

The council works out and adopts statements on draft laws, national programs and plans regarding the economic and social development; statements on acts of the National Assembly regarding the economic and social development; as well as statements on strategic problems of the economic and social policy, annual memorandums on the economic and social development of the country and analyses of the problems of the economic and social policy included in its annual working plan.

The council consists of chairman and 36 members divided into three groups. In the third group, which comprises 12 members, there is one representatives of the organisations of women. On 10 December 2005 expired the mandate of the Association “Public Women’s Parliament – 21 Century” and currently they are represented by the Democratic Union of Women.

At the Economic and Social Council are established standing and temporary commissions. One of the five Standing Commissions is the Commission of social policy, which works out projects of opinions and analyses relevant to the problems of the demographic and family policy, public health services, education, equal opportunities and equal treating of the genders, the minorities, the social exclusion, groups with non unequal rights, social services, culture, etc..