Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Council today approved the last three legal measures needed for Bulgaria to adopt the euro on 1 January 2026. This marks the completion of Bulgaria’s path to becoming the 21st member of the euro area, allowing it to use the EU’s common currency starting next year.
Bulgaria officially applied to join the euro currency area as part of its EU membership obligations after joining the European Union on January 1, 2007. The Balkan country of 6.4 million people is to make the switch from its national currency, the lev, to the euro on 1 January.
How did the EU finalize Bulgaria’s euro accession?
The European Commission officially approved Bulgaria’s readiness to adopt the euro on June 4, 2025, after concluding that Bulgaria met all the required convergence criteria, including currency stability, inflation, public finances, and interest rates.
This approval was supported by a positive assessment from the European Central Bank (ECB), which confirmed that Bulgaria fulfilled the necessary conditions to join the eurozone starting January 1, 2026.
After the European Parliament’s approval, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) met in Brussels and adopted the final legislative acts that formally paved the way for Bulgaria to adopt the euro as its official currency starting January 1, 2026. This decisive step completed Bulgaria’s accession process to the eurozone at the EU level.
What is the significance of the euro?
The euro is a common currency and monetary system introduced in 1999, when 11 EU countries committed to fixing their currencies to the euro for accounting purposes, and then replaced their national notes and coins with euro currency in 2002.
The EU created the European Central Bank to manage monetary policy and establish interest rate benchmarks for member countries, similar to the US Federal Reserve’s role in the United States.
Bulgaria is unique because it pegged its currency, the lev, to the euro from the start of monetary union in 1999, even before joining the European Union in 2007. It also has very low debt levels, at just 24.1% of its annual economic output, well below the 60% threshold for Eurozone membership criteria. The final requirement was to keep inflation below 2.8%, or no more than 1.5% above the average of the three lowest Eurozone countries.
