13/06/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 12 June, the Bulgarian finance minister, Vladislav Goranov, said that his country would be able to join both the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) and Banking Union in the Eurozone within a year, Reuters reports. He did not state whether Sofia would officially apply in June to join the 'ERM II'. At the end of May, the European Commission said that Bulgaria and Croatia met all the criteria to join the Eurozone, with the exception of the criterion on exchange rates (see EUROPE 12025). The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU would like the Commission and ECB reports on the state of convergence of the non-Eurozone countries to be discussed at the Ecofin Council to be held in Luxembourg on Friday 22 June. (MB)