site.btaDenmark Expects Easy Approval of Last Decisions on Bulgaria's Eurozone Entry, Danish Minister of Economic Affairs Tells BTA

Danish Minister of Economic Affairs Stephanie Lose Wednesday told BTA's Nikolay Jeliazkov that Denmark expects the vote in the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) on July 8 on Bulgaria's accession to the eurozone to be a "smooth process". Lose will chair the ECOFIN meeting on behalf of the Danish EU Council Presidency. 

She said Denmark looks forward to welcoming Bulgaria into the eurozone and is always happy to welcome new members, even though Denmark is not a member of the euro area. "I know this is a huge thing for our Bulgarian friends, so we will do whatever we can to both make it smooth and also make sure that we can say the congratulations that are definitely a good idea," the Danish Minister of Economic Affairs told BTA.

Bulgaria is the latest member state set to join the monetary union, currently consisting of 20 out of the 27 EU countries. In early June, the European Commission gave the green light in its Convergence Report for the country to adopt the Euro starting in January 2026, thus making it the 21st Eurozone member. The Eurogroup then gave its recommendation, which was endorsed at an ECOFIN meeting, where the bloc’s economy and finance ministers get together regularly. Then came the seal of approval from the EU’s heads of state and government at the European Council. A final decision will be taken at the next ECOFIN on July 8, where unanimous approval of the Euro-Lev conversion rate is needed.