Official Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Lyudmila Petkova stated at a hearing in the Parliament that the Eurozone criterion for price stability will be met by the end of the year. After that, our country will request a new report, on the basis of which a decision will be made on a possible date for Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone:
"The expectation is that the inflation criterion will be met no later than the end of the year, thus overcoming the last challenge to Bulgaria's membership in the Eurozone. After the fulfillment of this criterion - the criterion of price stability, the country will request the preparation of extraordinary reports by the European Commission and the European Central Bank, on the basis of which a decision will be made by the Council in the shortest possible time on the date of Bulgaria's membership in The Eurozone".
In order for the amount of the second payment to be paid, however, the parliament must urgently adopt several laws, "frozen" of the 49th National Assembly, the Acting Minister of Finance said:
"In order for the sums to be paid in full, the pledged sum of 653 million euros under the second payment, the following must be adopted by the National Assembly:
Updated "roadmap" for climate neutrality;
procedural rules for electing members of the Anti-Corruption Commission; changes to the Whistleblower Protection Act;
bill on bankruptcy of natural persons;
a draft law on the judiciary in connection with the changes in the Constitution, which would authorize the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council to revise the ethical codes of Bulgarian judges and Bulgarian prosecutors, respectively.
Basically, since the bills were debated in the 49th National Assembly but not passed and they have been shelved, all these bills must be re-introduced to the National Assembly to be considered.