17545 | 10 May 2025 | 10:45
From a legal point of view - a referendum for the euro is unconstitutional and illegal.
This is the expert opinion of Dimitar Stoyanov - lawyer and advisor to the Council of Ministers.
He listed the reasons for his position in detail on his Facebook profile:
1. Since 2007, Bulgaria has been a member state of the European Union under the Treaty between the EU Member States and the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Romania on their accession to the European Union of June 21, 2005. The Treaty has been ratified, published and entered into force, as required by Article 5, paragraph 4 of the Constitution. Ratification is an act of the legislature and was carried out by law, publication was made in the "State Gazette", and the Treaty entered into force. All constitutionally established requirements have been met and Bulgaria has been a member of the European Union for eighteen years now.
According to Article 5 of the Accession Treaty, Bulgaria and Romania participate in the Economic and Monetary Union from the date of accession as member states, with a derogation in the meaning of Article 122 of the EC Treaty.
The Economic and Monetary Union encompasses a group of policies aimed at converging the economies of the member states in the EU through a common monetary policy and a common currency, such as the euro. Participation in it, after the country's accession to the European Union, is based on the principle of convergence, fulfilling certain conditions and requirements in order to adopt the common European currency, the euro.
2.By signing its accession treaty, each member state undertakes an irrevocable commitment to join the eurozone and adopt the single currency, which is thereafter associated with the fulfillment of certain criteria - that is why the right to derogation has been introduced in accordance with Article 122 of the EC Treaty, namely for the fulfillment of these criteria. In other words, when a member state is ready, it adopts the euro, which arises from its agreed commitment.
3. The governments of Bulgaria have a contractual commitment, arising from the accession treaty to the European Union, to implement policies that promote convergence and bring our country closer to the eurozone with the ultimate goal of adopting the euro. 2 от ЗПУГДВМС, "Due to the fact that this is a changing process, there is no definite contractual date, but it is determined by the efforts and goals of the national authorities. Bulgaria has a date for a convergence report for the adoption of the Euro (an extraordinary one).
4. According to the provisions of the Law on Accession and Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria, a referendum on issues concerning international treaties concluded by the Republic of Bulgaria may be held before their ratification (Article 9, paragraph 4 of the Law on Accession and Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria). In other words, if it was time for a referendum, it should have happened before the summer of 2005, when the accession treaty was signed and ratified by the National Assembly. A referendum from then on is simply in violation of the existing legal framework.
5. According to the provision of Article 4, paragraph 1 of the Constitution, Bulgaria is a state governed by the rule of law, which is governed according to the Constitution and the laws of the country. The proclaimed principle of the rule of law requires that decisions made be in accordance with the legal framework, with the provisions in force – in the supreme and other laws.
This finalizes the argumentation as to why a referendum on the euro is constitutionally and legally impermissible to the current date, regardless of how the possible question is posed. The adoption of the euro depends solely and exclusively on the efforts of the national authorities to meet convergence criteria, from a legal point of view the issue was finalized in 2005, and the current normative regulation excludes the holding of referendums in this hypothesis of an international treaty.
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