Bulgaria to join Eurozone in 2026 after EU Commission and Central Bank confirm its readiness

On 4 June 2025, the European Commission and the European Central Bank published their convergence reports on Bulgaria, confirming the country’s readiness to join the Eurozone. The ad hoc reports, requested by the state government in February, state that Bulgaria fulfils the legal and economic convergence criteria necessary for adoption of the common currency. The country has met the four key criteria on its inflation rate, public finances, interest rate and exchange rates (commonly known as the 'Maastricht criteria').

The positive assessment by the two EU institutions is the latest and most substantial step toward Bulgaria’s adoption of the Euro since the country joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) in July 2020.

Future developments

The convergence reports are expected to mark the beginning of a chain of legislative maneuvers, which will lead to the adoption of the Euro by Bulgaria on 1 January 2026:

• The reports are set to be discussed at the next meeting of the Eurogroup in Luxembourg on 19 June 2025, followed by the adoption of a draft recommendation to the Council of the EU for the admission of Bulgaria into the Euro area;
   
• The draft recommendation is to be fully adopted at the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) on 20 June 2025;
   
• The convergence reports and the European Commission’s proposal for Bulgaria’s admission into the Eurozone are then to be discussed at the meeting of the European Council on 26 – 27 June 2025;
   
• The final decisions are set to be made on 8 July 2025 – the European Parliament is to adopt a position on the draft decision on Bulgaria's admission into the Euro area and the Council of the EU through the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) is to approve the final three legally binding acts. The Council’s decision and an accompanying regulation will set out the official date for the introduction of the Euro in Bulgaria.

Transition period

The decision of the Council of the EU on the admission of Bulgaria into the Eurozone will give effect to a number of legislative measures on the local level, which were passed to facilitate the smooth transition of the country’s finances from the Bulgarian Lev (BGN) to the Euro (EUR) and are contained in the Introduction of the Euro into the Republic of Bulgaria Act.

These measures include rules relating to the rounding after conversion from BGN to EUR, information and transparency on price revaluation, regulation of the procedure for the circulation of the new currency and the exchange of BGN banknotes.

Notably, a "dual pricing period", during which prices and other monetary amounts to be paid, credited and debited will be displayed and presented to citizens in both BGN and EUR. This period will begin one month after the decision of the Council of the EU on Bulgaria’s admission into the Eurozone and will end one year after the introduction of the Euro into the country.

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Christian Milev contributed to this article.