Bulgarians divided over introduction of euro, but support has grown – Eurobarometer poll
Forty-nine per cent of Bulgarians are in favour of adopting the euro and 49 per cent are against, with two per cent undecided, according to the findings of a poll released on June 30 by Eurobarometer.
Bulgaria was one of six EU countries that have not yet adopted the euro where the poll was conducted, the others being Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
The Eurobarometer poll found that in the past year, support for Bulgaria adopting the euro had grown by five points and opposition to it had dropped by five points.
Asked if they believed that they would personally manage to adapt to the euro, 79 per cent said yes, 19 per cent no and two per cent were undecided.
Asked if they were concerned that there would be abusive price setting during the changeover, 70 per cent said yes, 20 per cent no and one per cent were undecided.
Of those polled, 48 per cent believed that adopting the euro would mean that Bulgaria would lose control over its economic policy, 46 per cent said that it would not and five per cent were undecided.
In certain political circles in Bulgaria and on social media, there has been a disinformation campaign against the euro, designed to stoke fears that adopting the bloc’s common currency would mean higher cost of living, a claim shown to the baseless considering the experience of euro zone countries.
Asked when the euro should be introduced in Bulgaria, 26 per cent said “as soon as possible”, 31 per cent “after a certain time”, 15 per cent “as late as possible”, 26 per cent “never” and three per cent did not have an opinion.
In Bulgaria, the poll was done among 1012 respondents, from April 17 to 25, via phone interviews.
Eurobarometer said that six out of 10 respondents in the six EU member states that have yet to adopt the euro think that the common currency has had a positive impact on those countries that already use it.
A majority (53 per cent) also believe that introducing the euro would have positive consequences for their own country and for them personally (56 per cent).
Overall, nearly six out of 10 (58 per cent) respondents are in favour of their country introducing the euro in their country.
About three in 10 (29 per cent) think that the euro should be introduced in their country as soon as possible.
At least half of respondents feel informed about the euro (except in Romania), with more than eight in 10 (83 per cent) respondents, on average, saying that they have already used euro banknotes or coins.
Fifty-eight per cent of respondents are in favour of their country introducing the euro in their country, while at least half of respondents feel informed about it.
More than eight out of 10 respondents say that they have already used euro banknotes or coins.
(Photo: elbpresse.de via Wikimedia Commons)
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