Is Bulgaria ready for the Eurozone?
According to an ECB report published last week Bulgaria is not yet ready for accession to the Eurozone. Although the country fulfils the formal criteria it is lagging behind regarding so-called soft factors such as the independence of its central bank and success in the fight against corruption, the report concluded. Commentators explain why Bulgaria can forget its dream of Eurozone membership for the time being.
Postponement bad for EU's image
Trud explains why Bulgaria is still not being admitted to the euro club although it fulfils all the technical criteria:
“Bulgaria is the first country scheduled to be admitted to the Eurozone after the introduction of the banking union. The Eurozone is at a crossroads. ... Either it respects the formal accession criteria or the member states make a political decision. ... That entails a big risk for the EU, because Bulgaria has fulfilled the accession criteria for some years now. Not allowing it to join the Eurozone would convey the impression of a lack of principles and equal rights in the monetary union and in the EU as a whole.”
Bulgaria as a risk factor
Bulgaria's weak judicial system and rampant corruption are hindering its accession to the Eurozone, blogger Adelina Marini writes in a guest commentary in Sega:
“The Bulgarian government has failed to keep the promises it made in 2007 [after joining the EU]: creating an independent judiciary, fighting corruption at the highest level and getting organised crime under control. These risk factors are too much for the Eurozone, which is increasingly integrated and consequently exposed to ever more risks - in a global environment in which it has more enemies than friends.”