site.btaGERB-UDF Urge Parliament Chair to Reject President's Euro Referendum Proposal

GERB-UDF urge the chair of the National Assembly to reject the proposal for a euro referendum of President Rumen Radev as inadmissible and return it. The statement was presented by MP Raya Nazaryan and streamed on Facebook.  Earlier on Monday, President Rumen Radev submitted the proposal for a referendum on the adoption of the euro by Bulgaria in 2026 to Parliament.

“GERB-UDF insist that the proposal of the President categorically contradicts the constitution of Bulgaria, the EU law, and the law on the direct citizen participation in state and local government," Nazaryan said. "The texts of the constitution are categorical that Bulgaria, as any member state, participates in the construction and development of the EU. Any international treaty that Bulgaria has signed and ratified takes precedence over national legislation. This treaty, signed by Bulgaria more than 20 years ago, has not been challenged," Nazaryan said.

The statement recalls that the treaty for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU was ratified by the National Assembly on May 11, 2005, with 231 votes in favour, one against, two abstentions.

According to the Direct Citizen Participation in State and Local Government Act, a referendum on issues regulated by international treaties concluded by the Republic of Bulgaria may be held before their ratification, i.e. before 11 May 2005.

By the Accession Treaty, Bulgaria has accepted to be part of the Economic and Monetary Union as of the date of accession as a Member State, but due to non-fulfilment of the convergence conditions we are a “member state with a derogation”.

Compliance with the criteria is established by the Council of the EU, not proven at national level. The derogation is not revoked due to a request, but when the conditions are met. In this sense, a request for an ad hoc convergence report is a request for establishing compliance, not for the withdrawal of a derogation. The only hypothesis under which the euro adoption can be postponed is if the convergence criteria are not permanently met, GERB-UDF said.

The statement also points out that any act that makes the introduction of the euro conditional on another condition or deadline outside the convergence criteria undermines the EU's objectives of establishing economic and monetary union, the unit of which is the euro. Such an act would constitute a formal and explicit deviation from the commitment made by Bulgaria to the other member states under the Accession Treaty, as well as from Bulgaria's obligations under EU law, the position said.

"We believe that the President's proposal is not within the competence of the National Assembly, as of the date of ratification, but as stated above - it is a matter solely within the competence of the European Council and only if the convergence criteria are met and our status as a member state with a derogation is abolished," the position reads.