The Eurogroup, the informal gathering of euro zone finance ministers, has at a meeting on July 7 supported maintaining unchanged the lev – euro exchange rate, a move made on the eve of a final decision by EU finance ministers to approve Bulgaria adopting the euro as its currency as of January 1 2026.
Bulgaria has since 1997 used a currency board arrangement that initially pegged the lev to the Deutsche mark at a fixed exchange rate, and later pegged it to the euro.
On July 8, the European Parliament is due to vote at its plenary session in Strasbourg on Bulgaria’s accession to the euro zone as of January 1 2026.
The process of approval of Bulgaria adopting the euro will conclude with the adoption by Ecofin, the committee of EU finance ministers, of three legal acts that are necessary to enable Bulgaria to introduce the euro at the beginning of next year.
Approval by Ecofin is to be followed by a ceremony in Brussels on the afternoon of July 8 to officially announce Bulgaria becoming the 21st member of the Eurogroup.
Bulgaria was accepted, along with Croatia, into the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM2), the euro zone’s “waiting room” on July 10 2020.
In February 2025, Bulgaria formally asked the European Commission (EC) and European Central Bank (ECB) to assess the country’s readiness to join the euro area.
On June 4, in the extraordinary convergence reports, the EC and ECB confirmed that Bulgaria meets all the criteria for joining the eurozone from January 1 next year.
The Eurogroup endorsed on June 19 a recommendation from euro area member states to the Council of the European Union, that Bulgaria becomes a member of the euro zone as of January 1.
Ecofin agreed on June 20 to the next step towards Bulgaria adopting the euro as of the beginning of next year.
The European Parliament’s committee on economic and monetary affairs approved, by a large majority, on June 24 a draft report recommending approval of Bulgaria joining the euro zone.
On June 26, the European Council – the heads of governments of EU countries – endorsed the European Commission’s proposal that Bulgaria adopts the euro on January 1 2026.
