11:00 12 July 2020
Bulgaria and Croatia accepted into vestibule of euro area
The Bulgarian lev and the Croatian kuna have been included in the ERM II exchange rate mechanism, which is considered the vestibule of the euro. The EC emphasized that this decision is a milestone in the efforts of Bulgaria and Croatia to join the euro area.
Both countries must now participate in the mechanism without major tensions, and especially without devaluing their exchange rates against the euro, for at least two years before they can qualify for the single currency.
Bulgaria has aspired to enter the ERM II mechanism since mid-2018. Since then, the Bulgarian authorities have talked about the next dates for including the country in this structure, but these dates have been postponed several times. Croatia submitted a formal application to join the European monetary stabilization mechanism in July 2019.
