Bulgaria plans to adopt the euro and become the 21st member state of the eurozone. The Bulgarian lev has been on a currency board since 1997, with a fixed exchange rate initially against the Deutsche Mark and subsequently its replacement the euro. Bulgaria's target date for introduction of the euro was 1 January 2025. However, the 2024 ECB convergence report concluded that Bulgaria did not meet the convergence criteria due to high inflation, so this timeline has been delayed. The Bulgarian National Bank and several Bulgarian politicians have expressed their desire to join as soon as possible, and project that inflation will be low enough by the end of 2024. If Bulgaria adopts the euro, it will become the second national currency of the country after the lev, which was introduced over 140 years ago. The fixed exchange rate is 1.95583 lev for 1 euro.
When it joined the European Union in 2007, Bulgaria committed to switching its currency, the lev, to the euro, as stated in the 2005 EU accession treaty. The transition will occur once the country meets all the euro convergence criteria; at the moment, Bulgaria does not fulfill only one single criterion - price stability (ie inflation). As the lev was fixed to the Deutsche Mark at par, the lev's peg effectively switched to the euro on 1 January 1999, at the rate of 1.95583 leva = 1 euro, which was the Deutsche Mark's fixed exchange rate to the euro.[1]
Before the Bulgarian euro coins had been designed the Madara Rider had already been selected as the motif on the obverse ("national" side) of the coins. The two Bulgarian saints, such as Ivan Rilski and Paisius of Hilendar, will also be depicted on the Bulgarian euro coins. In this way, Bulgaria will become the first Orthodox country to have a Christian character on its Euro coins.[2] Bulgaria officially joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) on 10 July 2020.[3] [4] Bulgarian government and central bank officials adopted a draft national plan for euro adoption on 30 June 2021,[5] after stating that same day Bulgaria's intention to adopt the euro on 1 January 2024.[6] In May 2022, the government adopted a more definitive version of its euro introduction plan, reaffirming the country's commitment to adopt the euro on the target date.[7] On 21 February 2023, Bulgaria scrapped the idea of adopting the single currency on 1 January 2024 due to an internal political crisis.[8]
The Maastricht Treaty, which Bulgaria acceded to by way of its EU accession treaty, requires that all European Union member states join the euro once certain economic criteria are met.
In November 2007, Bulgarian Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski had stated that his goal was to comply with all five convergence criteria by 2009 and adopt the euro in 2012.[9] But Bulgaria did not comply with the requirement to be an ERM II member for at least two years, nor did it satisfy the price stability criterion in 2008. Bulgaria's inflation in the 12 months from April 2007 to March 2008 reached 9.4%, well above the reference value limit of 3.2%.
However, Bulgaria fulfilled the state budget criterion of only having a maximum deficit of 3% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The country had posted surpluses since 2003, which in 2007 represented 3.4% of its GDP (at the time, the EC forecast that it would remain at 3.2% of GDP in both 2008 and 2009). Bulgaria also complied with the public debt criteria. During the prior decade, the Bulgarian debt had declined from 50% of GDP to 18% in 2007, and was expected to reach 11% in 2009.[10] Finally, the average for the long-term interest rate during the prior year was 4.7% in March 2008, well within the reference limit of 6.5%.[11]
A 2008 analysis said that Bulgaria would not be able to join the eurozone earlier than 2015 due to the high inflation and the repercussions of the 2007–2008 global financial crisis.[12] Some members of Bulgarian government, notably economy minister Petar Dimitrov, speculated about unilaterally introducing the euro, which was not well-met by the European Commission.[13]
Bulgaria met four out of the five criteria in the last convergence report published by the European Central Bank in June 2024.
The Bulgarian lev has been pegged to the euro since the latter was launched in 1999, at a fixed rate of €1 = BGN 1.95583, through a strictly managed currency board. Prior to that, the lev was pegged on par to the German Mark. While the currency board which pegs Bulgaria to the euro has been seen as beneficial to the country fulfilling criteria so quickly,[14] the ECB has pressured Bulgaria to drop it as it did not know how to let a country using a currency board join the euro. The Bulgarian Prime Minister has stated the desire to keep the currency board until the euro was adopted. However, factors such as a high inflation, an unrealistic exchange rate with the euro and the country's low productivity are negatively affected by the system.[15]
Simeon Dyankov, Bulgaria's then-finance minister, said in September 2009 that Bulgaria planned to enter ERM II in November,[16] [17] [18] but this was delayed. It was then delayed further due to an increased budget deficit, outside the Maastricht criteria.[19] [20] Since 2011, Bulgaria's non-membership of the ERM II has been the primary factor that prevented euro membership, as Bulgaria met the other criteria for euro adoption. In July 2011, Dyankov stated that the government would not adopt the euro as long as the European sovereign-debt crisis was ongoing.[21] [22] [23] In 2011, Bulgaria's Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov stated that adoption of the euro would be postponed until the end of the eurozone crisis.
In January 2015, then-Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov (under Prime Minister Boyko Borisov) changed approaches and said that it was possible for Bulgaria to join ERM II before the end of 2018. Goranov said he would immediately begin talks with the Eurogroup to establish a plan for joining ERM II.[24] In July 2015, the Bulgarian government established a coordination council to prepare the country for eurozone membership.[25] The coordination council was to draft a plan for the introduction of the euro, propose a target date, and organise the preparation and coordination of the expert working groups.[26]
This approach was supported by former Bulgarian National Bank governor Kolyo Paramov, who had been in office when the state currency board was established. Paramov argued that adoption would "trigger a number of positive economic effects":
Former Bulgarian National Bank deputy governor Ethera Harsev agreed with Paramov, stating that it was possible to adopt the euro in 2018 and that "Bulgaria's membership in the eurozone will bring only positive effect on the economy" because "since [the establishment of] the currency board in 1997, we have been accepting all the negative effects of accession into the eurozone without getting the positive ones (access to the European financial market)".[28]
Following the reelection of Borisov's government in 2017, he declared his intention apply to join ERM II,[29] but Goranov elaborated that the government would only seek to join once the eurozone states were ready to approve the application, and that he expected to have clarity on the matter by the end of 2017.[30] On taking the presidency of the EU Council in January 2018, Borisov indicated no clarification had been given but announced he was going to pursue applications for both ERM II and Schengen by July 2018 regardless.[31] [32] [33] [34] Bulgaria sent a letter to the Eurogroup in July 2018 expressing its desire to join ERM II and committing to enter into a "close cooperation" agreement with the European banking union.[35] [36]
In January 2019, Goranov said he hoped that Bulgaria could join the ERM II mechanism in July and introduce the euro on 1 January 2022.[37] However, the first deadline was pushed back to July 2019 due to extra conditions requested by eurozone governments, namely that Bulgaria:[38]
While the CVM reforms are mentioned, and progress in judicial reform and organised crime is expected, leaving the CVM is not a precondition.[38]
As of October 2019, Goranov's target was to enter the ERM II by April 2020.[39] In January 2020, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that it was possible for Bulgaria to join ERM II later in 2020 and adopt the euro in 2023.[40] Borisov stated in February 2020 that Bulgaria's application would be reviewed in July.[41] In March, the Bulgarian central bank said that this target was no longer realistic due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[42] However, in April Borisov stated that he would push forward the application by the end of April.[43] The reason he gave for this U-turn was the 500 billion euros rescue package to deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which the finance ministers of the Eurogroup had agreed upon on 10 April.[44] On 24 April, Fitch Ratings announced that they would probably upgrade Bulgaria's foreign currency issuer default ratings (IDR) between Bulgaria's accession to ERM II and euro adoption:
"… Given that the COVID-19 pandemic response is taking up significant resources with regard to political engagement at the EU-wide level, facilitating the Bulgarian lev's ERM2 accession may decline as a relative priority for European institutions. If concerns about risks ease and the process resumes, this would be supportive of the rating, as underlined by our view that all things being equal, we would upgrade Bulgaria's Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR by two notches between admission to the ERM II and joining the euro."[45]
On 30 April 2020, Bulgaria officially submitted documents to the European Central Bank to apply to join ERM II, the first step to introducing the euro.[46] On 12 May, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis stated that Bulgaria could join ERM II together with Croatia in July,[47] which both countries did on 10 July.[3] [48]
As per the ECB decision adopted on 24 June 2020, Bulgaria and its national bank became member of the European banking union via a close cooperation agreement entering into force on 1 October 2020.[49] [50]
Bulgaria is in the process of joining the eurozone. In February 2023, Finance Minister Rositsa Velkova announced that Bulgaria's target date for entry into the eurozone would be delayed from 1 January 2024 to 1 January 2025, primarily due to the projected inflation not meeting the inflation criterion in time.[51] [52] In April 2023, enough signatures had been collected to put the entry to a referendum.[53] However, in June 2023 the referendum was rejected by Bulgaria's parliament with 98 votes against, 46 abstentions and 68 votes in favour.[54] [55] On 26 July 2023, the newly formed Bulgarian government adopted a programme which stated that the switch to the euro in January 2025 is one of the main government priorities. [56] In November 2023, the Bulgarian euro coin design was revealed and approved by the Bulgarian National Bank.[57]
In order to ensure full compliance with the legal criteria for euro adoption, the Bulgarian Parliament approved the necessary legislation on the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) on 1 February 2024.[58] [59] However, according to the assessment of the President of BNB, Dimitar Radev, the recently adopted constitutional revision (making it possible for the President or Vice President of BNB to be appointed as a temporary caretaker Prime Minister in case of failed attempts to form regular governments), and the recently adopted revision to the law on the BNB (making it possible for such a caretaker Prime Minister to resume his work and role at BNB after having completed his tenure as temporary caretaker Prime Minister), were both unlikely to meet ECB's convergence criteria for legal compliance. The ECB was not consulted on this specific change to the Bulgarian law, but were expected to reveal its assessment on this potential issue in its upcoming convergence report scheduled for publication in June 2024.[60]
On 20 January 2024, Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said in an interview that Bulgaria might be forced to delay its adoption of the euro to 1 July 2025 if the inflation criterion is not met in time, although the current target date of 1 January 2025 remains unchanged.[61] [62] Finance Minister Asen Vasilev believed Bulgaria was on track for euro adoption at some point in time in 2025, as the last inflation criteria was projected to be met between June and September 2024,[63] and the revised Bulgarian euro adoption law was expected to be approved by the ECB shortly.[64]
The euro adoption law was launched as a draft law for public consultation from 25 March to 24 April,[65] and subsequently will be subject to approval by the Bulgarian Parliament; the European Commission - although not yet ECB - had already approved the published version as of 26 March.[66] The ECB proposed several amendments to the proposed euro adoption law on 2 May 2024.[67] The Bulgarian Ministry of Finance later clarified that the proposed euro adoption law will never be assessed by ECB as part of their euro adoption compliance test of the national legislation in their convergence reports (due to this law only being a national matter), but stressed that from a national perspective it was important that the National Assembly vote and approve this law by the end of summer 2024.[68] An information website (www.evroto.bg) was launched on 25 March, dedicated to communicate the progress towards introduction of the euro in Bulgaria and practicalities of the euro changeover,[69] and the European Commission signed a Partnership Agreement for co-financing information campaigns towards Bulgarian citizens and businesses on all euro changeover aspects on 12 April.[70]
After a planned government rotation and negotiations for a renewed government mandate for the next nine months failed,[71] [72] [73] and subsequent attempts to form a new government among the elected parties was likewise unsuccessful, the Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announced that he would appoint a new caretaker Prime Minister and caretaker government tasked with organizing an early election in June 2024.[74] Analysts had warned that snap elections could risk delaying efforts for Bulgaria to adopt the euro in 2025.[75] [76] However, outgoing Finance Minister Asen Vasilev stated that preparations were so far advanced that at the current stage a caretaker government could ensure eurozone entry in 2025.[77] The incoming caretaker Prime Minister, Dimitar Glavchev, stated that the incoming caretaker government would continue to focus on achieving membership of the eurozone and "Schengen on land" among its priorities.[78]
On 26 June 2024, the ECB released their report confirming that the country had failed to comply with the inflation criteria, thus being unable to join the Eurozone on the 1 January 2025 target date.[79] According to BNB's press website evroto.bg, it is projected that the inflation criteria will be met by the end of 2024, and that if it is the country will request an off-cycle compliance re-assessment to get approval to adopt the euro as soon as possible.[80] In June 2024, the Bulgaria's acting finance minister has said that Bulgaria will need to reduce inflation in order to meet the European Central Bank (ECB) requirements to adopt the euro in January 2026.[81] [82] As of July 2024, the process is in a very advanced phase. If the required level of convergence is achieved, an off-cycle evaluation will be requested.[83] On 26 July 2024, the members of the Bulgarian National Assembly adopted a decision obliging the Bulgarian government to speed up the process of introducing the common European currency. According to the adopted act, Bulgaria will try to enter the Eurozone on 1 July 2025. If this happens, Bulgaria will become the first country to adopt the euro in the middle of the year instead of at the beginning.[84] On August 7, the long-awaited law on the introduction of the euro was adopted, which actually represents the most important legislative act necessary for the smooth running of the process of changing the currency. 167 MPs voted in support of the law, and in particular MPs from the pro-European majority in the form of PP-DB, GERB and DPS, while 48 MPs, from Revival (Vazrazhdane), independents and two Socialists were against. Only the group of There is Such a People and one independent abstained. This law is extremely important because it determines the terms and ways in which the currency will be changed. This is the last important legal act on the way to the euro that Bulgaria adopts before fulfilling the last Maastricht criteria - that of price stability and, accordingly, the subsequent decision of the Council of the EU to introduce the euro in Bulgaria. After the Council takes another' decision on the issue, some regulations and other sub-normative acts are to be adopted which will regulate in greater detail what is written in the package of laws that Bulgaria adopted on the way to the eurozone.[85] [86]
Because the lev is pegged to the euro at a fixed exchange rate, it can be argued that Bulgaria is already a de facto member of the eurozone insofar as it cannot pursue an independent monetary policy and is bound by the monetary policy and interest rate decisions of the European Central Bank, without having a say. Adopting the euro and thereby becoming a de jure member of the eurozone would enhance Bulgaria's position by giving it a voice in the ECB.
Moreover, the fact that the lev is pegged to the euro at a fixed exchange rate also means that Bulgaria cannot devalue its currency in order to make its exports more competitive. Therefore, Bulgaria would not lose anything in this regard by adopting the euro.
Other advantages of adopting the euro include the improved supervision of Bulgaria's systemically important banks once it has joined ERM II together with the European banking union, and the decreased cost of borrowing and full access to the eurozone's COVID-19 pandemic rescue packages.
Bulgarian Cyrillic script and its non-straightforward transliteration of the word euro initially caused issues when the European Central Bank and European Commission insisted that Bulgaria adopt the name ЕУРО (i.e., euro), rather than the original ЕВРО (i.e., evro) in Bulgarian pronounced as /ˈɛvro/ (from Bulgarian Европа in Bulgarian pronounced as /ɛvˈrɔpɐ/, meaning Europe), arguing that the currency's name should be standardised across the EU as much as possible. Bulgaria maintained that its language's alphabet and phonetic orthography warranted the exception.[87] At the 2007 EU Summit in Lisbon, the issue was decided in Bulgaria's favour, making евро the official Cyrillic spelling from 13 December 2007.[88] [89]
This ruling affected the design of euro banknotes. The second series of notes (beginning with the €5 note issued from 2013) includes the term "ЕВРО" and the abbreviation "ЕЦБ" (short for Европейска централна банка, the Bulgarian name of the European Central Bank).[90] The first series only had the standard Latin alphabet "EURO" and Greek "ΕΥΡΩ".
The plural of евро in Bulgarian varies in spoken language – евро, евра in Bulgarian pronounced as /ɛvˈra/, еврота in Bulgarian pronounced as /ˈɛvrotɐ/ – but the most widespread form is евро – without inflection in plural form. The word for euro, though, has a normal form with the postpositive definite article – еврото (in Bulgarian pronounced as /ˈɛvroto/, the euro).
The word for eurocent is Bulgarian: евроцент|italic=no in Bulgarian pronounced as /ˈɛvrot͡sɛnt/ and actually this or just цент pronounced as /[ˈt͡sɛnt]/ will be used in the future when the European currency is adopted in Bulgaria. This is also the official word mentioned and accordingly used in the Bulgarian national law and the Bulgarian legislation prepared on the path of Bulgaria in the Eurozone and its participation in the Eurosystem. In contrast to euro (in Bulgarian. ЕВРО), the word for "cent (in Bulgarian. ЦЕНТ - Стотинка/Стотинки)" has a full inflection both in the definite and the plural form: Bulgarian: евроцент|italic=no (basic form), Bulgarian: евроцентът|italic=no (full definite article – postpositive), Bulgarian: евроцентове|italic=no (plural), 2 Bulgarian: евроцента|italic=no (numerative form – after numerals). However, the word Bulgarian: stotinki (Bulgarian: стотинки|italic=no), singular Bulgarian: stotinka (Bulgarian: стотинка|italic=no), the name of the subunit of the Bulgarian monetary unit, will continue to be used informally as it has become synonymous with the word coins in the colloquial Bulgarian language; same as "cent (in Bulgarian. Цент - стотинка/стотинки)" (from Latin centum), its etymology is from a word meaning hundred - "sto" (сто). Bulgarian: Stotinki (Стотинки) or more precisely стотинка and стотинки is used widely in the Bulgarian diaspora in Europe to refer to subunits of currencies other than the Bulgarian lev. Although Bulgaria will officially use the word евроцент or цент in its national laws, the words стотинка and стотинки will continue to be present on Bulgarian coins, or more precisely, they will be minted on the national side of Bulgarian euro coins. More precisely, the 1 euro cent coin will read "стотинка" and the other 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 euro cent coins will read "стотинки".
Bulgarian euro coins will replace the lev once the convergence criteria are fulfilled. On the occasion of the signing of the EU accession treaty on 25 April 2005, the Bulgarian National Bank issued a commemorative coin with a face value of 1.95583 leva, giving it a nominal value of exactly 1 euro.[91] [92]
The Madara Rider was one of the favourites to become the symbol of Bulgaria to be used on the "national" (obverse) side of the country's euro coins. Other eminent contenders to be the 'symbol of Bulgaria' were ancient traditional nestinars (Bulgarian fire dancers), Cyrillic script,[93] the Rila Monastery and the Tsarevets medieval fortress near Veliko Turnovo.[94]
On 17 June 2008, debates on the design of future Bulgarian euro coins were held all over the country, continuing until 29 June when a vote was held on the symbol to be used on all coins. Bulgarians voted in post offices, fuel stations and schools.[95] [96] That same day, the winner was announced: a plurality of voters, 25.44%, had chosen the Madara Rider to be depicted on future euro coins.[97] [98] [99] [100]
On 24 July 2023, the governor of the BNB, Dimitar Radev, announced that the BNB Governing Council had decided that the Bulgarian national side of the euro coins would be identical to that of the Bulgarian lev coins in circulation.[101]
Eurocoins with a Bulgarian national side will contain the name of the fractional unit of the former Bulgarian currency leva (СТОТИНКА/СТОТИНКИ). The Bulgarian alphabet is already present on the euro banknotes, and with the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria and the putting into circulation of the Bulgarian euro coins, the Cyrillic alphabet will now also be presented on the euro coins. Together with the Greek coins, the Bulgarian euro coins will be the only euro coins that will not use only the Latin alphabet in their design.[102]
With the Bulgarian euro coins, Bulgaria's greatest contribution to European civilization - the Cyrillic alphabet, developed in the Preslav Literary School at the time of the First Bulgarian Empire - will become part of the coins of common European currency.[103]
The design of the euro coins was officially chosen by the Bulgarian National Bank in November 2023,[104] and approved by the Council of the EU in February 2024. Minting of the coins in necessary quantities will begin shortly after the Council of the EU approves Bulgaria to adopt the euro, so that they can be circulated starting from the date of euro introduction in Bulgaria.
The official website for the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria (www.evroto.bg) gives the following description of the Bulgarian euro coins:[105]
| €2 | The 2 euro coin depicts Saint Paisius of Hilendar (ca. 1722-1773) - Bulgarian national revivalist and clergyman, author of the first Renaissance work in Bulgarian historiography - "History of Slavic Bulgaria". In Cyrillic on the right is the country of issue - "БЪЛГАРИЯ". To the left of the image of the saint are the Cyrillic inscription "ЕВРО" and the year of issue, 2025. Inscription on the side of the two-euro coin: on one half, "БОЖЕ ПАЗИ БЪЛГАРИЯ" is written, and on the other side, the same inscription is written in reverse.[106] |
| €1 | The 1 euro coin depicts St. Ivan Rilski (ca. 876–946) - Bulgarian spiritual leader, lived as a hermit monk, miracle worker and heavenly protector of the Bulgarian people, founder of the Rila Monastery. The country of issue - "БЪЛГАРИЯ" is indicated with an inscription in Cyrillic on the right, and on the left of the image of the saint there is an inscription in Cyrillic "ЕВРО" and the year of issue, 2025.[107] |
| €0.50 | The 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50-euro cent coins depict the Madara Rider - a rock relief from the 8th century, included in the World Cultural Heritage List. With an inscription in Cyrillic on top is the country of issue - "БЪЛГАРИЯ", and on the bottom - "СТОТИНКИ" - the name of the Bulgarian exchange coins used in circulation. On the right is the year of issue, 2025.[108] [109] The 1 euro cent coin has the inscription "СТОТИНКА" in the singular, instead of the plural "СТОТИНКИ" (as on the other 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 euro cent coins) because it is a singular word - i.e. "1 СТОТИНКА/ЕДНА СТОТИНКА".[110] |
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| Date (survey taken) | Date (survey published) | Yes | No | Undecided / Don't know | Conducted by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | June 2024 | 49% | 49% | 2% | Eurobarometer[111] | |
| April 2023 | June 2023 | 49% | 50% | 1% | Eurobarometer[112] | |
| April 2022 | June 2022 | 44% | 54% | 2% | Eurobarometer[113] | |
| May 2021 | July 2021 | 54% | 44% | 2% | Eurobarometer[114] | |
| June 2020 | July 2020 | 48% | 50% | 2% | Eurobarometer[115] | |
| April 2019 | June 2019 | 47% | 48% | 5% | Eurobarometer[116] | |
| April 2018 | May 2018 | 51% | 46% | 3% | Eurobarometer[117] | |
| April 2017 | May 2017 | 50% | 45% | 5% | Eurobarometer[118] | |
| April 2016 | May 2016 | 47% | 48% | 5% | Eurobarometer[119] | |
| April 2015 | May 2015 | 55% | 39% | 6% | Eurobarometer[120] | |
| April 2014 | June 2014 | 51% | 45% | 4% | Eurobarometer[121] | |
| April 2013 | June 2013 | 52% | 43% | 5% | Eurobarometer[122] | |
| April 2012 | July 2012 | 53% | 43% | 4% | Eurobarometer[123] | |
| November 2011 | July 2012 | 56% | 40% | 4% | Eurobarometer[124] | |
| May 2011 | August 2011 | 45% | 42% | 13% | Eurobarometer[125] | |
| September 2010 | December 2010 | 48% | 39% | 13% | Eurobarometer[126] | |
| May 2010 | July 2010 | 51% | 37% | 12% | Eurobarometer[127] | |
| September 2009 | November 2009 | 49% | 31% | 20% | Eurobarometer[128] | |
| May 2009 | December 2009 | 44% | 36% | 20% | Eurobarometer[129] | |
| May 2008 | July 2008 | 51% | 31% | 18% | Eurobarometer[130] | |
| September 2007 | November 2007 | 46% | 33% | 21% | Eurobarometer[131] | |
| March 2007 | May 2007 | 45% | 33% | 22% | Eurobarometer[132] |