1. “Challenges and Opportunities Facing Bulgaria on the Way to
the Eurozone”
Jean Monnet Module for European Monetary Law and Faculty of Law University of Niš
International scientific conference
"The Influence of European Integration on the Development of Monetary Law"
30-31 May 2023
Faculty of Law University of Niš,
The Republic of Serbia
Assoc.prof. Savina Mihaylova-Goleminova PhD
Magdalena Vlahova-Veleva PhD

2. Introduction
Financial Law as an Independent and Positive legal
Discipline faces a lot of challenges nowadays in Bulgaria
due to the complicated correlations, hierarchy and relations
with the EU Law and financial system of the EU.
Financial Law is one of the most influential and reputable
branches of Law.
Financial Law has its own fundamental place in the legal
order of South East European Countries and Western
Balkans (former socialist countries).
Monetary Law is a part of the Financial Law, but has its
own place as an Independent and Positive Legal Discipline
like Tax Law, Customs Law, etc., because of its
interdisciplinary approach.
Subsystems of the
Financial System
Tax
Customs
Monetary
Non-banking
Budget/
Public Finances
Banking
Subsystem of
Public Resources
from EU Funds
Insurance
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3. Introduction
120 years of the Department of Economics: collective
monograph "Challenges to the Bulgarian economy
on the way to membership in the Eurozone”
https://www.uni-
sofia.bg/index.php/universitet_t/fakulteti/stopanski_fakultet/novini_ot_fakulteta/120_godini_kate
dra_ikonomika_kolektivna_monografiya_predizvikatelstva_pred_b_lgarskata_ikonomika_po_p_tya
_k_m_chlenstvo_v_evrozonata
South East European Countries and Western
Balkans have traditions in the legal doctrine in
the field of Financial Law, considering the
common past and the common future on the way
towards European integration.
The EU traditions and values are the basic legal
foundations on the way to the European
integration in the field of of monetary and fiscal
Integration.
Need for joint analysis between lawyers and
economists and the present one is a good
example for such a collaboration.
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4. Challenges and Opportunities
 Legal Foundations, the so-called Maastricht criteria and convergence reports:
 Article 3, para 1 TFEU the Union shall have exclusive competence in area of : (c) monetary policy for the
Member States whose currency is the euro;
 Article 140 TFEU sets out the convergence criteria to be met before euro adoption;
 Articles 63 – 66, 119, 141, 119 TFEU.
 Preparation process for euro adoption in Bulgaria
 Bulgaria and Exchange rate mechanism II
 National Euro Changeover plan
 Law on the introduction of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria
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5. Challenges and Opportunities
 Bulgaria has already joined the Banking Union. As of 1 October 2020, Bulgaria joined the Single Supervisory
Mechanism (SSM) by establishing close cooperation between the Bulgarian National Bank and the European
Central Bank. The latter comes as a result of Decision (ЕU) 2020/1015, made by the ECB on 24 June 2020.
 A Decision by the 48th National Assembly, adopted on 27 October 2022, states that the Council of Ministers in
coordination with the Bulgarian National Bank have to speed up the consultations and negotiations with the
European Commission, the countries whose currency is the euro, and now participating in the Exchange Rate
Mechanism II, with a view to adopting the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria with a target date of January 1, 2024.
(However, the target date has changed).
 In addition, the Council of Ministers in coordination with the Bulgarian National Bank and other responsible
committees have to accelerate the process of technical preparation for the adoption of the euro according to the
National Plan for the introduction of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria. The exchange rate that will be applied
for converting lev to euro was confirmed: BGN 1,95583 for EUR 1.
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6. Challenges and Opportunities
• Action Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria to Join the ERM II
https://www.minfin.bg/en/1291
• Аction plan with measures to address the ERM II post-commitments
https://www.minfin.bg/en/1464
• National Euro Changeover Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria
https://www.minfin.bg/en/1570
• Concept of Law for introduction of Euro
https://www.strategy.bg/PublicConsultations/View.aspx?lang=bg-BG&Id=7173
• Decision by the 48th National Assembly was adopted on 27 October 2022
https://www.parliament.bg/bg/desision/ID/164380
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7. Conclusions
Bulgaria aims at becoming the 21st euro area member state and is in the process of joining the euro area.
Currently, Bulgaria facing a lot of challenges, including political instability, as well as economic obstacles, due not only
to internal but also to external factors.
It is a must to address all obstacles in this context, applying the key values of the European Union (art. 2 (TEU)),
especially the Rule of Law.
The legal and economic doctrine are trying to address all the challenges presented.
Nonetheless, the target date for euro adoption changed from 1 January 2024 to 1 January 2025 as a possible date, once
the country meets the necessary convergence and legal criteria.
The date was postponed due to two main reasons – Bulgaria did not meet the inflation criteria and some legal issues had
not been solved – the Parliament failed to adopt changes to the insurance code, commercial law and to the anti-money
laundering laws.
Thus, the country did not file for a convergence report in 2023, the upcoming regular one is expected in 2024.
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8. THANK YOU
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!
Assoc. Prof. Savina Mihaylova-Goleminova, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Financial and Tax Law
Department Industrial Economics & Management
Faculty of Economics and Business, Sofia University
Director, Master’s Programme
“Economics&Management of Public Resources”
email: s.mihaylova@feb.uni-sofia.bg
mobile: +359 888 859229
www.uni-sofia.bg/eng/feba
Magdalena Vlahova-Veleva PhD
Expert at the Ministry of Finance, Republic of Bulgaria
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