(SOFIA) - EU newcomer Bulgaria is expected Friday to ratify the European Union's new reform treaty, aimed at streamlining and revitalising the bloc's institutions.

The 240-seat parliament began debating the ratification Friday morning in Sofia and was expected to vote in the early afternoon.

"The Lisbon Treaty is the finalisation of a very long and hard process that many feared would fail to reach a successful outcome," Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev told parliament Friday, encouraging it to ratify the treaty.

"Its success is extremely important for the future of the whole of Europe... as it would make it more efficient, more transparent, and more intelligible," he added.

The Lisbon Treaty is meant to streamline the EU's operations, cutting the size of the European Parliament, limiting the use of national vetoes and creating a post of president and European foreign policy supremo.

Adopted by EU leaders in December, the treaty replaces the bloc's defunct draft constitution, torpedoed by French and Dutch voters in referenda in 2005.

But critics say the new treaty is practically identical to the previous EU constitution.

All 27 EU countries must individually ratify the treaty for it to come into effect in 2009, as planned.

Last month France became the first EU heavyweight to approve it by parliamentary vote. Hungary, Malta, Romania and Slovenia have also done so, while Ireland is the only member planning a referendum.

Bulgaria along with Romania were the last countries to join the European Union, in January 2007.

One year on the country is still one of the bloc's biggest supporters, with 76 percent of Bulgarians backing EU membership, a recent poll of the Alpha research institute showed.

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