European Parliament, Council of EU to hold final votes regarding Bulgaria's accession to euro area as of January 1, 2026

The European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg and the Council of the European Union in Brussels Tuesday will hold final votes regarding Bulgaria's accession to the euro area as of January 1, 2026, according to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

MEPs will vote on a report by MEP Eva Maydell, who supports this country's entry into the euro area. The report was preliminarily approved by the EP’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Subcommittee on Tax Matters on June 24.

The EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) will vote on three decisions: adding Bulgaria to the list of euro area countries, setting the lev-euro exchange rate, and approving this country’s adoption of the euro. Only the decision on the exchange rate requires unanimity. At its last meeting on June 19 in Luxembourg, ECOFIN adopted a preliminary decision to maintain the current official exchange rate. The European Council gave its approval for Bulgaria’s accession to the Eurogroup on June 26.

The upcoming decisions are based on positive convergence reports published by the European Commission and the European Central Bank on June 4. The reports concluded that Bulgaria is ready to adopt the single European currency. If approved, Bulgaria will become the 21st euro area member on January 1, 2026.

Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Danish Minister for Economic Affairs Stephanie Lose told the Bulgarian News Agency that she expects ECOFIN to easily adopt the necessary decisions. Lose will chair the meeting on behalf of Denmark’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.