Six of the Member States due to adopt the euro are still not prepared to do so, according to a report from the European Commission on Wednesday.
Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden are legally committed to join the eurozone. However, accession to the eurozone requires a country to have a high level of sustainable economic convergence, based on a set of criteria including price stability, public finances, exchange rate stability and durability of convergence. None of the countries satisfactorily met this, according to the report.
"Today's report shows progress by six countries committed to joining the euro area, though there is still a long way to go," said Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People, Valdis Dombrovskis.
In the report, the Commission underlined the recent challenging economic conditions, such as high inflation, which impacted the progress of the six countries.
Despite not being prepared for the euro, the report emphasised Bulgaria's significant development, highlighting the compatibility of the national legislation with the rules of the Economic and Monetary Union.
"Bulgaria has made significant progress towards joining euro and met three of the four criteria," Dombrovskis celebrated in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Bulgaria has made significant progress towards joining euro💶 & met 3 of the 4 criteria. A great achievement in a challenging environment. Inflation should decline in coming months, also helping to meet inflation criteria. We will work closely with 🇧🇬 to support it to euro area. https://t.co/5VT2bYplVN
— Valdis Dombrovskis (@VDombrovskis) June 26, 2024
All EU countries – except for Denmark who negotiated an opt-out clause – are legally committed to adopt the euro once they fulfil the necessary criteria. However, there is no specific time frame for this to be achieved.
A majority of citizens (53%) of the non-euro area believes adopting the euro would be positive for their country, a recent Eurobarometer survey showed. Support for the currency is particularly high in Romania (77%) and Hungary (76%). In Bulgaria, most citizens (71%) believe that the euro will be introduced within the next five years.
The Commission's Convergence Report is used as the basis for its proposal to the Council of the EU to allow a Member State to adopt the euro. The report is published every two years or at the request of a Member State.
The report is complemented by a separate report from the European Central Bank, published in parallel on Wednesday.
