Basic Principles & Conditions of the Law on the Adoption of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria – Part I

The Law on the Adoption of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria (promulgated in the State Gazette, issue 70 of 20.08.2024) /LAERB/ ensures the implementation of the relevant acts of the European Union by determining the necessary measures at the national level for the adoption of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria. The purpose of the law is to supplement and facilitate the adoption of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria and to increase the transparency and the awareness about the process of adoption of the euro in the country in accordance with the directly applicable law of the European Union.

According to Art. 3 of the LAERB, the date of adoption of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria is the date specified in the Decision of the Council of the European Union on the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria, adopted in accordance with Art. 140, paragraph 2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Regulation of the Council of the European Union, adopted in accordance with Art. 140, paragraph 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, namely 01.01.2026.

According to Art. 4 of the LAERB, in accordance with Art. 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro, as of the date of adoption of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria, the currency of the Republic of Bulgaria is the euro. The monetary unit is one euro. One euro is divided into one hundred cents.

According to Art. 5 of the LAERB, the official exchange rate of the Bulgarian lev to the euro is the irrevocably fixed exchange rate of the Bulgarian lev to the euro, determined in a Council Regulation adopted in accordance with Article 140, paragraph 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, namely 1.95583 levs for 1 euro.

Art. 6 of the law explicitly states that in the process of adoption of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria, the principle of consumer protection, the principle of awareness, the principle of efficiency and economy, the principle of transparency, and the principle of continuity and automatic conversion of amounts from levs into euros shall apply.

Art. 7 establishes the principle of consumer protection, and according to para. 1 of the provision, the conversion of prices and other values from levs into euros cannot lead to placing consumers in a less financially advantageous position than they would be if the euro had not been adopted as the currency of the Republic of Bulgaria, in accordance with the applicable acts of the European Union in the field of consumer protection, and according to para. 2 of the provision, the adoption of the euro cannot lead to an increase in the prices of goods and services, except when this is justified by objective economic factors.