Bulgaria signs a Memorandum of Understanding with the President of the Euro group and the Commission on the start of euro coin production

The European Commission and the President of the Euro group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Republic of Bulgaria outlining the practical steps that will allow Bulgaria to start producing euro coins when it receives approval to accede to the euro area. These steps concern the striking of certain quantities of test coins with the common face designs of the euro coins and the selection of the national designs of the Bulgarian euro coins.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 6 December in Brussels by European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni, Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe and, on the Bulgarian side, by Finance Minister Rositza Velkova and Bulgarian National Bank Governor Dimitar Radev.

The signing of the Memorandum represents an important step on the path of the country's euro area accession, the final decision on which will be taken by the Council under Article 140(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.