Bulgaria likely to get EU Commission go-ahead to adopt euro from 2026, officials say
BRUSSELS, May 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission is likely to give Bulgaria the green light on June 4 to adopt the euro currency from the start of 2026, several euro zone officials said, making Bulgaria the 21st country to join the single currency area.
The Commission will publish a "convergence report" next Wednesday on whether Bulgaria meets the criteria to adopt the euro, now used by 347 million Europeans in 20 countries.
Three senior euro zone officials said they expected the Commission report to be positive for Bulgaria, which has been striving to switch its lev currency to the euro ever since it joined the European Union in 2007.
Becoming a member of the euro zone, apart from using euro notes and coins, also means a seat at the European Central Bank's rate-setting Governing Council. The ECB will issue its own assessment on June 4 whether it thinks the country is ready, and if its central bank is independent.
It is the Commission's view that is decisive, however.
A positive recommendation from the EU executive arm would mean that EU finance ministers would endorse it and fix the conversion exchange rate for the Bulgarian lev into the euro in July, leaving the rest of the year for the country to technically prepare for the transition.
For a positive recommendation, Bulgaria has to meet the inflation criterion, which says that the euro-candidate cannot have consumer inflation higher than 1.5 percentage points above the three best EU performers.
In April, the best performers were France with 0.9%, Cyprus with 1.4% and Denmark with 1.5%, which put Bulgaria with its 2.8% just within the limit.
The euro candidate country also cannot be under the EU's disciplinary budget procedure for running a deficit in excess of 3% of GDP. Bulgaria meets this criterion with a budget deficit of 3.0% in 2024 and 2.8% expected in 2025.
The country's public debt of 24.1% of GDP in 2024 and 25.1% expected in 2025 is well below the maximum level of 60%, and its long-term interest rate on bonds is well within the 2 percentage point margin above the rate at which the three best inflation performers borrow.
Finally, the euro candidate country has to prove it has a stable exchange rate by staying within a 15% margin on either side of a central parity rate in the Exchange Rate Mechanism II.
Bulgaria has been running a currency board that fixed the lev to the euro at 1.95583 since the start of the euro currency in 1999.
Bulgaria's euro adoption will come three years after the last euro zone expansion, when Croatia joined the single currency grouping at the start of 2023.
The Commission will also look at whether Bulgaria's economy and markets are integrated with the rest of the EU, as well as the trends in the country's balance of payments.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
As Sir Rod Stewart prepares to play Glasto, the veteran rocker says the country is 'fed up' with Labour and the Tories and should 'give Nigel Farage a chance'
He didn't quite say he'd found a Reason To Believe in Nigel Farage. But when Sir Rod Stewart steps on to Glastonbury 's Pyramid Stage tomorrow afternoon, fans may ponder his plea to 'give Farage a chance'. The 80-year-old singer's teatime set comes the day after he claimed the country was 'fed up' with the Tories and that Labour was trying to ditch Brexit. He accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of giving Scottish fishing rights 'back to the EU', although the Government insists it has simply renewed an existing deal for European boats. His views represent a second volte-face given that he appeared to support Labour at last year's election – despite previously backing the Conservatives. Asked where Britain's political future now lay, he told The Times: 'It's hard for me because I'm extremely wealthy, and I deserve to be, so a lot of it doesn't really touch me. 'But that doesn't mean I'm out of touch. For instance, I've read about Starmer cutting off the fishing in Scotland and giving it back to the EU. That hasn't made him popular. 'We're fed up with the Tories. We've got to give Farage a chance. He's coming across well. What options have we got? I know some of his family, I know his brother, and I quite like him.' Asked what Mr Farage stands for aside from Brexit, tighter immigration and controversial economic promises he replied: 'Yeah, yeah. But Starmer's all about getting us out of Brexit and I don't know how he's going to do that. 'Still, the country will survive. It could be worse. We could be in the Gaza Strip.' Sir Rod also seemed unconvinced that Sir Keir was going to fully address one of his personal pet hates. Three years ago, the singer donned a hi-vis jacket and rang around friends asking for help filling in potholes outside his Essex house. 'I took me Ferrari out. Nearly lost the f***ing wheel,' he said. 'And before I did in the Ferrari, I saw an ambulance that couldn't move, the wheel stuck right in there. 'So I took me mates out, and we knew what to do because I had builders in the house. 'We filled in a considerable length of the road, actually.' He added that potholes were still present 'all over Britain' in contrast to Europe.
Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Charity donors' anger over 'tip traps' on fundraising websites
Three in four adults are 'frustrated' with the 'tip trap' set by some fundraising websites, fresh research reveals. Some 76 per cent of those polled by advisory firm Strand Partners are annoyed at the way tips are collected on online fundraising platforms and are calling for the Government to tackle the practice. Fundraising websites act as a middleman between charities or fundraisers and donors, making donations to good causes simple. But many now automatically add a 'tip' on to the donation amount, which goes straight to the platform – and not the charitable cause. It's catching out many generous donors, who end up frustrated after unintentionally paying the automatic charges. When a donor reaches the checkout stage of the fundraising platform, the tip is shown on a sliding scale, which is automatically set at 17 per cent on popular website JustGiving. This means on a £50 donation, an £8.50 fee is automatically added. Donors can change or opt out of these tips, which go directly to the platforms, but only if they spot them – and work out how to reduce them to £0. There are two higher options – at 19 and 20 per cent – and two lower options – 12.5 and 15 per cent. However, the sliding scale doesn't allow donors to reduce the tip to £0, as they must instead manually enter this by clicking an 'enter custom amount' button. Almost two thirds of Britons want it to be easier to remove tip options when donating online, Strand Partners found. Scores of annoyed users have vented their frustration on social media and review websites. One user says 'any tip should be opt in, not opt out', while another says they were 'disgusted' to find a donation had been automatically added. One review of JustGiving says: 'What an insult. I did not want to leave them a tip.' If you leave an unintended tip, you can ask the fundraising platform you used if you can get a refund. It's not just donors who are feeling frustrated. The research comes as MPs are piling pressure on the Government about the sliding tipping scales. Cross-party MPs including Annaliese Dodds, MP for Oxford , and Saqib Bhatti, MP for Meriden and Solihull East, have recently pushed the Government on its plans to take any action on the sliding tipping scales. One of these MPs, Jo Platt, MP for Leigh and Atherton – and a member of the Culture Media and Sport Committee – says: 'Fundraising platforms play an important role in facilitating giving. But concealed tipping options and hidden charges are unnecessarily diverting money away from charities and misleading donors.' The tip system means websites don't levy a platform fee on donations to charities or personal fundraisers anymore in order to run their service. Instead, it is these tips which now pay for the running of the platforms. The UK Fundraising Regulator has long maintained the importance of transparency in online donations. In April, it updated its Code Of Fundraising Practice to specify that all voluntary tips must be clearly presented and on equal footing to free donation options. This is due to take effect in November. A JustGiving spokesman says: 'In order for us to continue to support fundraisers, it is essential that we operate as a for-profit organisation. In recent years we have seen growth in the volume of donations which in turn has naturally increased our profitability. 'Following consultation with some of the UK's leading charities, in 2019 we moved to a voluntary contribution model, so that as much money as possible could go directly to charities and good causes. This is now standard practice across the industry. 'Today, anyone using our platform has the option to leave a tip on top of their donation to support the running of JustGiving and this is not compulsory. 'When people do choose to add a tip, this goes towards investing in and maintaining the technology that helps our site continue to securely raise funds on a global scale, 24/7.'
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Tel Aviv blasts BBC for failing to cut hour-long live broadcast of punk band's vile outburst - as police face demands to arrest Bob Vylan singer who led 'death to Israeli soldiers' chants at Glastonbury
The BBC and Glastonbury provoked outrage tonight when a pro-Palestine punk act called for the death of Israeli soldiers during a live broadcast from the festival. In appalling scenes condemned by the British and Israeli governments, the lead singer of the duo Bob Vylan led a crowd of thousands in a vile chant of 'death, death to the IDF' – the Israel Defence Forces. The singer, who keeps his identity secret, also led a chant of 'free, free Palestine ', and declared 'from the river to the sea Palestine… will be free' – regarded by many in the Jewish community as a call for Israel's elimination. The entire episode was live-streamed on the BBC iPlayer. The corporation was lambasted for failing to cut the broadcast immediately after the anti-Semitic chanting. Shockingly, its live stream continued for another 40 minutes until the end of Bob Vylan's performance. The incident prompted calls for the band members to be arrested over claims they had incited violence. Avon and Somerset Police last night said they were examining video evidence and investigating if any offence had been committed. The broadcast plunged the BBC into a major crisis with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy demanding 'an urgent explanation' from BBC director-general Tim Davie into 'what due diligence it carried out ahead of the Bob Vylan performance'. A government spokesman said: 'We strongly condemn the threatening comments made by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.' The singer, who keeps his identity secret, also led a chant of 'free, free Palestine ', and declared 'from the river to the sea Palestine… will be free' – regarded by many in the Jewish community as a call for Israel's elimination Lord Ian Austin – the Government's trade envoy to Israel – said: 'The police should investigate as a matter of urgency and, if necessary, arrest the band members.' Tory MP Greg Stafford said: 'If someone can be jailed for inciting racial hatred on social media, then surely this band should be investigated for inciting violence at the very least. Somerset Police should arrest them and carry out an investigation immediately.' Sharren Haskel, Israel's deputy foreign minister, also slammed the performance. She told The Mail on Sunday: 'I condemn the BBC for continuing to live-stream anti-Israel hate speech from Glastonbury. 'What do you think the BBC would have done had a performer been shouting anti-Muslim or far-Right hate speech? They would have pulled the feed. 'But because the target is Israel – let's be honest, because it's Jews – it's tolerated, even broadcast. This is clearly incitement.' The BBC later pulled the offending incident from its footage on iPlayer. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch branded the comments 'grotesque', adding: 'Glorifying violence against Jews isn't edgy. The cultural establishment needs to wake up to the fact this isn't protest, it's incitement.' Danny Cohen, former director of BBC Television, said: 'That something like this might happen could easily have been foreseen by the BBC and measures could have been taken to prevent its broadcast. 'This is a very serious failure, and further evidence that BBC management are blind to their responsibility to Britain's Jewish community.' Bob Vylan, who formed eight years ago in London, refuse to reveal their real names because of what they call the 'surveillance state'. Instead the singer calls himself Bobby Vylan and the drummer Bobbie Vylan. Addressing the crowd of around 30,000, Bobby said he had to be 'careful' because their performance was 'live on the BBC'. He then, however, led the 'free, free Palestine' chant, then changing it to 'death, death to the IDF'. 'Hell, yeah, from the river to the sea Palestine must, will be, Inshallah, it will be free,' he added. The singer also backed controversial Northern Irish band Kneecap, who were following them on the West Holts stage, by describing music executives who called for the group to be banned as 'Zionists '. In another hugely embarrassing blow for the BBC, he also used the highly offensive c-word. May Golan, Israel's minister for social equality, said: 'Perhaps someone should tell that anti-Semitic band what happened to the hundreds of innocent people at Israel's Nova music festival who were murdered, raped, butchered, and kidnapped by savage monsters.' The BBC decided not to stream Kneecap live. Instead an edited version of the performance was due to be put on the iPlayer. It came ten days after Kneecap member Liam O'hAnnaidh, 27, appeared in court charged with a terror offence, prompting the Prime Minister to say it was 'not appropriate' for the band to be playing Glastonbury. Kneecap started their performance this afternoon by chanting 'F*** Keir Starmer'. They also spoke out in support of Palestine Action, which the government wants to proscribe as a terror group. Glastonbury had said all were welcome at the festival but added it 'does not condone hate speech or incitement to violence of any kind from its performers.' Bob Vylan is the UK's self-proclaimed 'most violent boy band' whose singer attended his first pro-Palestine protest at the age of 15 and whose music fuses punk, grime and hip hop Bob Vylan is the UK's self-proclaimed 'most violent boy band' whose singer attended his first pro-Palestine protest at the age of 15. At Glastonbury today, Bobby Vylan said: 'We're seeing the UK and the US be complicit in war crimes and genocide happening over there to the Palestinian people... Anybody with any moral compass can surely see that what is happening over there in Gaza is a tragedy. Former Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker, 64, also issued a call to 'Free Palestine' during an appearance at a discussion event at Glastonbury yesterday.
