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Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

ecb.europa.eu

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Re: Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

#281

Post by rsynnott »

smallstepforman wrote: post #70

If abandoning your own currency and adopting Euros was such a big deal, the UK would have done it decades ago (while it was still a part of the EU). This benefits the bigger economies, at the expense of the smaller economies. Any fiscal policy is dictated by the bigger countries, and with identical currencies, the only policy left for Bulgarians is to cut wages in public sector. This will impact local economy, and ri…

The UK's nearest neighbour Ireland did. Looking between Britain and Ireland now vs then, you'd definitely want Ireland's rate of growth (ignore GDP, which is massively distorted in Ireland, but look at wage growth) and not the UK's (though realistically the Euro was not a _huge_ factor there either way).

In fact, without the Euro/EMU, Ireland's currency would likely still be tied to Sterling, as it was until 1980. This would be, ah, _not great_, especially at the moment. Clearly, at least in this case, the euro benefited a small country (in particular Ireland was spared the various fiscal shocks that the UK suffered as a result of Brexit and Truss).

Re: Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

#282

Post by dzhiurgis »

decimalenough wrote: post #22

Credit where credit is due: the EU gets a lot of flack for being bureaucratic, hidebound, sclerotic, whatever, but the single currency has been a success and it's still expanding, 26 years after its creation. Also, the addition of Bulgaria means it's almost possible to travel from Spain to Greece entirely through the Eurozone, with only a thin sliver of Serbia or Macedonia in the way. (Assuming we include Montenegro…

> travel from Spain to Greece entirely through the Eurozone

I'm not euroskeptic, but does it even matter in the age of ubiquitous digital payments? IMO SEPA is far more important development than cash itself.

Re: Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

#283

Post by pradn »

remon wrote: post #263
Roark66 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Polish here, very much against adopting the euro until our standard of living and growth rate matches Germany (no at least not for next 10 years). Why? Because the disadvantages far out weight the benefits for developing countries. The biggest issue is giving up one of the biggest instrument of control over the economy to a supra-national non-democratic organisation. Surely the monetary policy will follow what is bes…

Being able to buy groceries with euros is not a strong, or even related, argument to the point you're making. Even ignoring the real economic cost of having two currencies, there is no serious economist that would argue Poland joining the EUR zone is negative for Poland (as opposed to for stronger EU economies). Every single historic metric points in the other direction. Poland's economy is maturing and strengthening…

You have to be careful to make a distinction being in the EU and using the Euro as your currency. You can benefit from the EU common market, with its uniform rules/standards, easy capital flows, subsidies, and industrial policy. All without using the Euro as your currency, and being subject to the monetary policy of the ECB.

Being in the EU without using the Euro has been pretty good for Poland.

Re: Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

#284

Post by owebmaster »

pradn wrote: post #283
remon wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being able to buy groceries with euros is not a strong, or even related, argument to the point you're making. Even ignoring the real economic cost of having two currencies, there is no serious economist that would argue Poland joining the EUR zone is negative for Poland (as opposed to for stronger EU economies). Every single historic metric points in the other direction. Poland's economy is maturing and strengthening…

You have to be careful to make a distinction being in the EU and using the Euro as your currency. You can benefit from the EU common market, with its uniform rules/standards, easy capital flows, subsidies, and industrial policy. All without using the Euro as your currency, and being subject to the monetary policy of the ECB. Being in the EU without using the Euro has been pretty good for Poland.

> Being in the EU without using the Euro has been pretty good for Poland.

That's an interesting perspective. From what I see in the news, the EU isn't as happy with the outcome.

Re: Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

#285

Post by isodev »

ingohelpinger wrote: post #55
isodev wrote: post #3

Nice. It’s amazing to see the progress Bulgarians have made in the last 20 years after joining the EU. I can imagine it hasn’t been an easy process.

have you seen the roads? lol

No, but have you seen the roads in other places? Roads are hard :)

Re: Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

#287

Post by dzhiurgis »

perching_aix wrote: post #122
ReptileMan wrote: post #115

Probably a bad idea. The big economies of the eurozone have been in constant stagnation for the last 15 years. To me it seems that Bulgaria has jumped on Titanic on Qweenstown. I do hope that I am wrong, but those are the same people that made the plastic caps permanently attached to the bottles.

> but those are the same people that made the plastic caps permanently attached to the bottles It's still hilarious to me how upset people are at this (or at least pretend to be).

My question is - who is buying all these drinks?

I haven't bought anything in plastic bottle for years. Most drinks are either glass or cans.

Re: Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

#288

Post by dzhiurgis »

blub wrote: post #198
perching_aix wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it really isn't that inconvenient at all, and some of the caps are outright better now than the crap that preceded them. Bit like how the toilet water use regulations turned out. I even find myself vaguely annoyed now whenever I drink from glass bottles, that those caps are loose. > People are upset because it shows Brussels disfunction Reminds me to that meme where the debated point is what OS is better, and the…

I didn’t know this was an EU regulation, but if it is, it’s utterly dumb. The new lids are harder for kids to use, bother you when drinking, get in the way when pouring and are a general nuisance.

You allow your kids to drink from plastic bottles?

Re: Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

#289

Post by rhubinak »

wolvesechoes wrote: post #243
consp wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This all reads as symbolic nationalist policies with an added burocracy thus costing more than it should. "We need own coin to control [insert nationalist thing here]" but in practice you won't and never did. The last time I was in Denmark my bank nicely charged me for the conversion despite the coin being fixed to the euro. It is just a money costing machine which adds no value.

If being nationalistic means preferring that currency in your country is controlled by the government you have elected and not by ECB that you have zero control over, then yes. Ask Greeks how much they enjoyed ECB involvement.

By adopting euro you get a seat at the ECB and can influence monetary policy of the whole Eurozone.

Re: Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

#290

Post by guappa »

giingyui wrote: post #256
guappa wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't really matter because being in EU you can't print money, being euros or whatever local currency you have.

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/ecb-to-print-1-trillio...

And? A single country can't decide to do that even if they don't have euro.
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