V. Dombrovskis: Low Incomes are not an Obstacle to Bulgaria's Joining the Eurozone's "Waiting Room"

Low incomes do not prevent Bulgaria from joining the Eurozone's "waiting room" and later the Eurozone itself. This was stated in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio "Horizon" by the Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis.

"There are no preconditions in terms of per capita income or, more precisely, compared to the average in the EU, in Bulgaria it is the same as in Lithuania and Latvia at the time when the two countries joined the ERM-2 mechanism, so I would say that the main question that needs to be answered in this connection is how joining the Euro area will affect the Bulgarian economy, according to our estimates, it will have a positive effect and will even ease the approach to the average levels of the European Union," he said.

Dombrovskis added to the National Radio that accession to the waiting room and to the Eurozone is a matter that should be brought to the European Central Bank and the member states of ERM-2 because they make this decision: "As far as I know, this attitude is progressive, as the Minister has said, the prospect is that within one year Bulgaria will join the waiting room and the Banking Union, and we will launch new instruments to help those member states that make visible steps towards the adoption of the Euro. We have prepared such an instrument which is linked to a structural reform programme, mainly for technical assistance but also financially possible as it relates to the implementation of some reforms and measures for the adoption of the Euro. "

Valdis Dombrovskis explained what commitments Bulgaria will take if it joins the Banking Union: "The Bank Union means that the largest banks in the country fall under the direct supervision of the European Central Bank's single supervisory mechanism, Bulgaria is bound by the general framework of the Banking Union, which means uniform supervision and, in case of problems in some of the banks, a unified mechanism for their resolution "