Bulgaria will be able to count on solid technical and financial assistance from the European Commission during its preparations for ERMII entry into the Eurozone. This was confirmed by Deputy. EC President for the Euro Valdis Dombrovskis on 14 July 2020 in response to a question from the Bulgarian MEP from GERB / EPP Eva Maidel during his hearing in a working group of the European Parliament on the enlargement of the Eurozone, whose only Bulgarian representative is Maydell.
“Our admission to the Eurozone is a historic success for Bulgaria and a recognition of the government, because full unanimity was needed from the countries of the Eurozone and Denmark. It is now important to maintain the stability of the economy and to continue to meet the criteria of low government debt and deficit, as well as inflation, so that in a few years’ time we can become a full member of the EU’s core. Given the extraordinary and independent economic turmoil due to Covid-19, it is important for our country that the EC helps with expert assistance for reforms, development of administrative capacity, building digital governance and other areas to help us meet the economic criteria for entry in the Eurozone “, said Eva Maydell to Valdis Dombrovskis and the member of the Board of the European Central Bank Fabio Panetta, who also participated in the hearing before the MEPs.
“One of the EU’s new programs for the next seven years, called the Technical Assistance Instrument, will provide just such expert and financial assistance to countries. The EC has proposed 864m euros, from which countries can request a set amount each year until October 31st to support reforms and modernization in the next calendar year. Such support is needed in order to accelerate the economic catching-up of the countries of Western Europe without negatively affecting our stable macroeconomic indicators. ”This was also commented by the Bulgarian MEP.