Joining the Eurozone is a top priority for the Bulgarian business sector

The Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (KRIB) continues to see the country’s entry into the Eurozone as a top priority. KRIB was the first organization that started an active information campaign to inform the public about the advantages and opportunities of introducing the euro in Bulgaria.

Entry into the Eurozone should remain a major strategic goal for the country, and everything possible should be done to achieve it as early as 2025. This, of course, will depend on the policies that are implemented - fiscal, flexible and developed labour market, transformation of the economy towards production with higher added value, digitization, higher educational standards, etc. The elements that can further speed up the process of admission to the Eurozone are an improvement in the credit rating status of Bulgaria, sending positive messages to the outside world, opportunities to attract investors and last but not least – enhancing greater security. All this can be achieved by a stable government, which is the necessary prerequisite, in our opinion, to complete the process of Bulgaria's admission to the Eurozone.

As European Commission representatives shared at various events recently, Bulgaria currently fulfills all of the so-called Maastricht criteria for accession, without the exception of price stability, which can also be achieved before the end of the year. Bulgaria can then use the option provided for in the EU treaties to request an extraordinary assessment.

We share the recommendations made by the leader of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, during his visit to Sofia on 15 March 2024 – that Bulgaria should continue to keep its public debt low and public finances secure and do everything possible to lower inflation. In addition to Mr. Donohoe, in recent months support for joining the Eurozone was also expressed by a number of institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, etc.

Despite the indisputable advantages of eurozone membership, we must not remain indifferent to the active disinformation campaign that takes place mainly on social networks. Overcoming misinformation and strengthening the information campaign should be top priorities for any government.

In this regard, on 12 April 2024, a Partnership Agreement was signed between the European Commission (EC) and the Republic of Bulgaria for the organization of information and communication campaigns regarding the introduction of the euro in the country.

The next steps to accession include consideration and voting of the draft Law on the introduction of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria in the National Assembly. That draft has already received positive opinions from the EC and the ECB.

We in the business sector are practically already in euro mode and there is not a single argument that would make us oppose its introduction as an official currency. As we currently stand, however, we cannot enjoy the positives from the shared European currency such as stimulating economic growth, access to resources, accelerated convergence, improvement of the business environment and higher real income growth for workers.

For KRIB, as an organization of business transparency, it is particularly important that the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria will make it possible to shrink the gray economy in the country. Only gray-sector businesses, in our opinion, have no interest in the Eurozone, and here the role of the state is to do its job to support public finances.