Bulgarian PM Zhelyazkov, EU’s Dombrovskis discuss euro zone entry preparations
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov and European Commissioner for economy Valdis Dombrovskis have sought to give re-assurances that the country’s euro zone accession will be a smooth and painless one.
Dombrovskis visited Sofia on June 5, alongside the European Commissioner for innovation, Bulgaria’s Ekaterina Zaharieva, a day after the Commission and European Central Bank issued convergence reports saying that Bulgaria was ready to adopt the euro on January 1 2026.
Zhelyazkov said that he discussed with Dombrovskis the government’s plans to minimise the impact of the transition to the euro on prices.
The Cabinet approved on June 4 the creation of a co-ordination mechanism to prevent profiteering in the run-up to the adoption of the euro.
Dombrovskis, who was prime minister of Latvia when it joined the euro zone in 2014, said that his country saw a minimal impact on inflation from adopting the euro, while the positives were felt straight away at a time when Europe was still dealing with the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
He praised Bulgaria’s economic performance as it sought to join the euro zone, both before and after entering the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM2) in 2020, despite external challenges like the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rising energy prices that followed.
Dombrovskis said that the adoption of the euro offered new opportunities, investment, jobs and growth for Bulgaria, as seen in other countries that have joined the euro zone.
Asked if the domestic tensions surrounding the prospect of adopting the euro on January 1 2026 might prompt European institutions to delay the country’s accession to the euro zone, Dombrovskis said that the Cabinet and Bulgarian National Bank have consistently been committed to that date and the Commission would recommend that Council of the EU approves January 1 2026 as the date for Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro.
Bulgarian authorities will have to focus in the coming months on the practical aspects of the transition and the campaign to inform both individuals and businesses on how it will happen, he said, but emphasised several times that the adoption of the euro would not lead to higher inflation by itself.
(Left to right: European commissioner for innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov and European commissioner for economy Valdis Dombrovskis. Photo: government.bg)
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