Bulgaria's Move to Join the Euro Welcomed

Despite public fears that adopting the single currency will cause prices to rise in Bulgaria, analysts believe the country's plan to apply to the ERM II mechanism - known as the eurozone's "waiting room", will bring benefits to the country.

"Right now, it seems that the opinion is that the benefits for Bulgaria of joining the eurozone are greater than the risks, both among politicians and economists", Desislava Nikolova, an economist in the Sofia-based Institute for Market Economy, told BIRN.

The decision to speed up adoption of the single European currency by applying for the ERM  II by June was announced by finance minister Vladislav Goranov on Thursday.

It won the formal backing of the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who said at the ceremony marking the start of Bulgaria's six-month EU Presidency on Friday that the country "will have to join the mechanism as soon as possible".

"I did not say that Bulgaria will be automatically the next member of the euro zone but it is heading in the right direction," Juncker said, noting that the country's public finances are stable and the unemployment is dropping.

"It is not quite enough yet", the President of the Commission added.

Since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, joining the eurozone has been on the agenda of the different governments, but Goranov's announcement is the first formal commitment from the cabinet to launch the process.

Candidates for the eurozone spend at least two years under the ERM II mechanism, which prepares them for adopting the single currency. In order to enter the euro club, EU member states have to fully meet the so-called Maastricht criteria, which set specific requirements for the public finances of the countries, covering...