1 minute read / June 4, 2025
Brussels has formally approved Bulgaria’s years-long bid to join the Euro currency area, paving the way for it to become the Eurozone’s 21st member on 01 Jan 2026.
The Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) said that Bulgaria – the EU’s poorest member state – had fulfilled the so-called “convergence criteria” to join the currency union.
“The Euro will bring tangible benefits for Bulgarian citizens and businesses: stable prices, lower transaction costs, protected savings, more investment, and increased trade. Of course, the euro is more than a currency,” EU economy chief Valdis Dombrovskis said. […]
High levels of corruption and years of political instability have also fuelled anti-establishment sentiment in the country, where the average GDP per capita is just €24,200: the lowest in the EU. […]
Bulgaria is only the second country to join the Euro this decade, after Croatia in 2013. Many of the EU’s 27 member states remain scarred by the memories of the eurozone crisis in the 2010s, which almost triggered the currency union’s disintegration.
The European Parliament and other eurozone member states must now formally greenlight Bulgaria’s accession. The final approval could come as early as 8 July 2025.
