Bulgaria heads for EU deficit procedure months after euro entry
According to EURACTIV, Bulgaria is set to be placed under the EU’s excessive deficit procedure on Wednesday, just months after joining the eurozone, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Friday.
Radev accused the previous centre-right government of manipulating fiscal data to secure Bulgaria’s eurozone entry on 1 January 2026, following a bitter political battle over whether the country met the convergence criteria.
“They lied to push Bulgaria into the euro,” he told reporters on Friday after returning from Brussels. Radev came to power in May after his left-wing populist Progressive Bulgaria party won April’s election, securing Bulgaria’s first single-party majority in three decades.
Under the EU’s excessive deficit procedure, countries breaching the bloc’s fiscal rules are required to bring their deficit back below 3% of GDP within a set timeframe and are subject to closer budgetary monitoring by the European Commission.
The Commission’s spring forecast projects Bulgaria’s deficit at 4.1% of GDP in 2026, as the country also grapples with the eurozone’s highest inflation rate, already pushing up food prices.
If confirmed, Bulgaria would become the first country to enter the eurozone and face the bloc’s corrective fiscal arm within months of accession. It would also mark Sofia’s first EDP since its previous procedure was closed in 2012.
The Commission declined to comment ahead of the publication of its European Semester package next week.
“The Commission will provide its assessment in the context of the European Semester next week and will not comment further at this stage,” a spokesperson told Euractiv.
Former finance minister Temenuzhka Petkova (GERB) rejected Radev’s accusations, arguing that Bulgaria remained within the 3% limit in 2025 thanks to the EU’s defence-spending flexibility clause. Any deterioration, she said, was linked to decisions taken by the caretaker administration and delayed budget planning for 2026.
The expected EDP comes days after Brussels unlocked €370 million in frozen Recovery Fund money for Bulgaria, while keeping another €3 billion on hold pending judicial and anti-corruption reforms.
The Commission’s spring package is also expected to include updates on other member states already under the procedure, including France, Hungary, Italy and Poland.
