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The Eurogroup reaffirms its support for Bulgaria’s efforts to join the eurozone

by AI | 14.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

We welcome the country’s commitment and encourage further steps to ensure sustainable convergence, noted the President of the Eurogroup Pascal Donahue.

Pascal Donahue Photo: Hristo Kasabov/BTA

BRUSSELS/SOFIA – The Eurogroup supports Bulgaria’s efforts to adopt the euro as its national currency, based on the agreed criteria which will be assessed this spring. This is written by the President of the EurogroupPaschal Donohoein a letter to the President of the European CouncilAntónio Costa.

“We welcome Bulgaria’s commitment and encourage further steps to ensure sustainable convergence,” states the letter. Donohoe notes that Bulgaria recently requested an extraordinary report to assess the country’s readiness to join the eurozone.

The President of the Eurogroup states that the eurozone economy remains resilient amidst global uncertainty. Maintaining stable public finances is essential to securing the resources we need to meet our strategic financial priorities, says Donohoe.

“At a time when global economic relations are increasingly fraught with confrontation, it is even more important to engage with our international partners and present a strong and unified European voice on the world stage. Due to the size of our economy, we must confidently assert our role in shaping global economic policies,” says the President of the Eurogroup. To secure our future financial needs, actions are needed to form a Capital Markets Union, recommends Donohoe. In his letter, he also emphasizes the need to accelerate progress on introducing the digital euro to preserve Europe’s strategic autonomy.

Last month,Donohoe expressed support for Bulgaria’s aspirationto introduce the euro at the appropriate time. Bulgaria joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism ERM II and the Banking Union in July 2020, after the Eurogroup approved the initiation of the process in mid-2018.

At the end of February this year, the Bulgarian government and the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) sent letters requesting extraordinary reports from the European Commission and the European Central Bank to assess the country’s readiness to join the eurozone. The expectation is that the extraordinary reports will be presented in three months and the country will adopt the common currency from January 1 next year. (March 13)