The European Council published remarks by the European Council President during the start of a two-day visit to Bulgaria, highlighting Bulgaria’s recent accession to the Schengen area and its ongoing process to adopt the euro while framing the European Union’s current priorities around competitiveness and defence. The President pointed to inflation as the main criterion for eurozone entry and referenced a forthcoming European Commission and European Central Bank assessment of Bulgaria’s inflation criteria, noting the inflationary impact of higher energy costs since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He also linked security and competitiveness, and cited planned visits to defence industries, a university and an institute that will host one of six AI factories in Europe as examples of how defence investment can also strengthen industrial capacity, research and innovation. The next milestone flagged was the European Commission and ECB assessment in the coming months related to Bulgaria’s inflation criteria for euro adoption.
European Council 2025-04-27
European Council President links Bulgaria’s euro adoption to inflation progress and sets competitiveness and defence as EU priorities
The European Council President highlighted Bulgaria's Schengen accession and euro adoption process, emphasizing EU priorities on competitiveness and defence. Inflation, driven by higher energy costs post-Russia's Ukraine invasion, was noted as a key criterion for eurozone entry, with an upcoming European Commission and European Central Bank assessment. The President also linked defence investment to industrial capacity and innovation, citing visits to defence industries and an AI institute.