Speaking in Bulgaria on Friday 24 February, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, urged the Bulgarian authorities to continue efforts to keep the country on track for euro area membership by 2025, the new date set by Sofia (see EUROPE 13125/28).
According to Mr Dombrvoskis, regarding the convergence criteria to be met, Bulgaria complies with those inherent to long-term interest rates, exchange rates incurred by its participation in the ‘ERM II’ mechanism since July 2020 (see EUROPE 12525/4), and sound public finances (public deficit at -4.3% of GDP in the third quarter of 2022 and public debt at 23.1% of GDP at the end of 2022).
The main issue is respect for “price stability”, said the Commission Vice-President, acknowledging that the high inflation caused by Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine makes the task “much more difficult”. According to the EU institution’s winter economic forecast, the inflation path in Bulgaria is as follows: 13.0% in 2022, 7.8% in 2023 and 4.0% in 2024.
However, Dombrovskis warned that the postponement of the euro area membership target to the beginning of 2025 should not blow us off course. He called on the Bulgarian authorities to adopt the necessary reforms in the areas of anti-money laundering, corporate insolvency and prudential requirements for the insurance sector. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)