Bulgaria's Ministry of Finance publishes chronology of drafting and adopting the National Plan for euro introduction

Bulgaria's Ministry of Finance issued a factual chronology setting out the steps taken to prepare and adopt Bulgaria’s National Plan for the introduction of the euro, in response to public statements by Member of Parliament Assen Vassilev about the timing and process for developing the plan. The chronology traces preparations back to the 2015 establishment of a Coordination Council for euro area membership preparations, co-chaired by the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). It highlights Bulgaria’s 2018 steps towards joining Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) and the Banking Union, the 10 July 2020 decision to include the Bulgarian lev in ERM II, and subsequent work to develop the National Plan. According to the Ministry, the Coordination Council approved the draft National Plan by 30 June 2021, followed by a one-month period for comments. The draft was submitted to the Council of Ministers in December 2021 but not put to a vote, and the Plan was ultimately adopted on 30 May 2022 and later updated on 13 November 2023.