Illegally Using the Euro: Is Bulgaria the Next to Officially Join? - TLDR News
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
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Officially joining the Euro is a difficult process, something that Bulgaria and other countries are currently learning. As such a couple of countries have decided to just use it it illegally, without the EU's permission. So in this video we track Bulgaria through the process of joining and learn why some just give up and adopt it unilaterally.
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1 - ec.europa.eu/i...
2 - www.ecb.europa...
3 - www.ft.com/con...
4 - www.reuters.co...
5 - www.ft.com/con...
6 - ec.europa.eu/i...
7 - bqk-kos.org/ba...
8 - Bogetic, Zeljko & Petrovic, Pavle & Vujosevic, Zorica. (1999). The Yugoslav Hyperinflation of 1992-1994: Causes, Dynamics, and Money Supply Process. Journal of Comparative Economics. 27. 335-353.
Montenegro and Kosovo adopted the euro as easily as I adopted a penguin online
This creates more questions than it answers
😂 😂
@@bengu3987 club penguin
Kosovo is illegitimate
What's your penguin's name ?
If there's one thing I learned from this its that the Germans knew how to manage a currency. I mean the Danish Krone has also been pegged to the D-mark and subsequently the Euro for decades!
@@summerfish9320 Denmark is quite euroskeptic. In a national referendum in 2000 we voted to not adopt the Euro. Our current PM doesn't like the EU too much either.
@Ararune That's actually not the case. As was explained in this video, we're in the ERM II which means the Danish Crown is pegged to the Euro. This means that the ECB regulates our currency and only the Eurozone members have an influence when it comes to policy regarding the monetary union. Essentially, this means that we're subject to the exact same rules and financial regulations as the Eurozone members but without the influence the members of the Eurozone have.
Therefore, the major benefit from joining the Euro would be to gain influence over our own currency, while stuff like exchanging would be a minor benefit. Also, having status as a Eurozone member places a country much more centrally in the Union, and Denmark's influence would increase overall.
@Ararune that is a huge benefit, though.
@@malikfall6263 Wrong again Europhile. being part of the ERM II means jack shit when you can simply withdraw from it and fall back on your own internally printed currency; If the EU starts to deflate or inflate, the Krone can cut ties and avoid the situation.
Oh and "Having status as a Eurozone member places a country more centrally in the Union and Denmark's influence would increase overall" is straight up lies, You give up your own sovreignty for less power.
EU should’ve called their bucks as “Ducats” instead.
Euro really does not roll off the tongue well.
@@strongback6550 it sounds so much better in most other European languages pronunciation imo
@@michaelmartin341 they do sound good in neo-latin languages, not so much in Germanic languages
In German it is pronounced ‘Oi-row’ instead which I think sounds better
@@georgewright4285 How is it pronounced in Romance languages?
In my opinion, the Euro-zone has way too much criteria for letting new nations join whilst 80% of current nations can’t be held to the same standards.
That's more a problem due to lack of unified fiscal policy. Which is something that EU needs to tackle some day.
so, is this topic covered because of the recent Bulgarian parliamentary election?
I'm from Ukraine and i think we have interesting topic for future video.
We have a lingering constitutional crisis because President wants to get rid of head of constitutional court because he is (according to President) is corrupt (and also last autumn constitutional court abolished a law which obliged all civil servants to show their property and incomes. This made President and society very unsatisfied with Constitutional court. It's worth noting that our courts generally corrupt). However, President has no legal ways how to get rid of head of Constitutional court and decided to revoke the fiat of his predecessor about appointment of this judge in constitutional court. Unfortunately, our constitution don't allow President to behave in this way and today our supreme court (it's another court) revoke President's fiat about revoking the constitutional court's head.
I think, it would interesting to discuss here. And I'd like to know what other countries may do if it transpires that judjes are corrupt?
In 2003 I was a swedish citizen and I votet No to the Euro, 57 % voted NO to the Euro and 43 % voted yes. Im very happy with the outcome!
Those who join to use the euro and isn't a EU country should be able to join the EU via a fast track programme called euro-club express.
No more countries to the EU. It is already too many countries. There are too great cultural and interest differences. The economic conditions are also too different. The EU should be divided into smaller parts. To increase the ability to collaborate.
The EU is killing itself. It is ruled by ideologues who ignore reality. Poor countries milk money from the rich, and the countries lose the right to make their own laws. The example is the intolerance of Hungary's new law. People feel less and less in contact with the corrupt politicians in Brussels. People have always disliked centrally governed states, especially when they are big. They want politicians who understand the local needs and wishes. Which is not possible in a big state.
@@niklasmolen4753 what?
I am not sure what your comment means lol
Anywaya hungary is doing bad stuff so.
@@fitmotheyap
Yes, Hungary seems to be heading for a dictatorship. But if the EU gets involved in their domestic politics, it is going too far. It is not a question of genocide, slave labor and organ harvesting, which the EU does not seem to have any problems with when it happens in China.
Bulgaria has been keeping this 1,96 exchange rate to the euro since 1997. How hard can it be to keep this up for another year or two? :D
As of May 2023 Bulgaria will hold a referendum about WHEN (not "if", but "when") to adopt the Euro. It seems like the people will postpone it until 2043 as per the question of the referendum :)
The 2020s will probably see Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic and Romania join the euro.
The Czech Republic in the late 2020s will join id say, the others mentioned by the mid 2020s.
I don't see Sweden joining just yet unless a huge shit in opinion occurs, poland the same and Hungary even more so
Wait a minute so if my savings are in Lev's(Лв) in my bank in Bulgaria do I have to convert them to the Euro(€) before we join Eurozone? Or does the bank convert it for us? Does anyone have an idea?
@@summerfish9320 Thank you for the reply. 👍
The problem will come when the euro, which is country supported, finds its true value
One currency cannot survive such a diverse range of financial situations
Bulgaria is joining in 2024 1st Jan I think
It is not levs. It is leva for plural.
Seem like the easiest place to launder money in euros is Montenegro and Kosovo, since they use it but are not regulated by the EU.
why the EU is angry of using that currency in non EU members?
This is a lot of meaningless titles. For example Sweden had a referendum if they should join Euro or not. The no side won. Then Sweden just stayed out and did not join the ERMII (exchange rate mechanism 2) where you have to be a member in two years to be a Eurozone member if you fulfill the requirments (Sweden will easily fulfill that). But we have this strange status now probably because the politicians did not want to close any doors. But I would find it very unlikely that Sweden will join Euro anytime soon.
These are examples of what Scotland could do if they leave the UK?
Im from sweden and i dont want the euro. The swedish krona is very strong. We would have lost like 500 billion euros if we adopted it
You sound like a Sweden democrat. 40 000 billion kronor or whatever it was 😆
Since when did Bornholm leave Denmark, on the map at 0:44 it seems to have joined either Sweden or Poland.
I hope that my country of Poland never adpots the euro, too much control over fiscal policy is lost in this transition when the nation can not control its currency. Unfortunately Greece found this out the hard way
Having € can be beneficial (Germany), but personally I prefer PLN because we can manipulate exchange rates for our benefit.
You completely missed to mention that the bulgarian currency has been in a currency board since 1997, which is actually a world record. This means it has been tied to the Deutsche Mark and then to the Euro with a fixed rate. This means Bulgaria has been "using" the euro for a looooooooooong time. Not to mention the fact that Bulgaria has the second lowest debt to GDP in the entire EU, with only Estonia doing better there. You put too much emphasis that Bulgaria made a huge dept in 2020 during the covid crisis, when in fact the new dept was lower than average for the EU as well. All in all the only "real" road blocks are political decisions both within the country and in the rest of the EU. We will see how and if they will join the eurozone.
You neglect the fact that there are only 8 or 9 million people on Bulgaria, and most of those are elderly living on less than 250 Euros per month!
@@khankrum1 Actually there are a bit under 7 million people living in Bulgaria and some of the elderly are living with under 150 Euros per month, so no I am not neglecting it at all. It is a horrible thing but completely irrelevant to the euro discussion in the video.
Spot on! Very well said, it is completely true!
Also the political decisions relate to how stable the lev is in the currency board, it enforces local banks to make more informed decisions and we have the additional control where if the euro somehow sinks the country can just get off the board and control it's own currency. The transition to the euro is also pretty scary considering what happened in Greece after they adopted the euro.
@@tasadarbg more than " some" pensioners live on less tha 150 Euros per month, that is the level of the existing Bulgarian state pension. The unemployement benefits are even less. The level of poverty in Bulgaria is very significant.
The fact is the Bulgaruan economy would collapse if it joined the Euro. Prices would increase dramatically and Bulgaria could not afford the need for corresponding wage and welfare increases that would be nessasary to match it. Internal hyper inflation would become inevitable!
In Albania euro is used more than Lek
If you get a job (unless its government job) the salary is in euro
You want to buy/rent a house/car , euro
You buy home appliances , euro
You buy bread , lek
So your house and car are nice, but your fridge is empty?
Or do you have that "cushy government job."
@@bazzfromthebackground3696 Um…you can exchange currencies.
@@bazzfromthebackground3696 which weirdo puts bread in a fridge 😬😬
@@mocanuteo6947 how often do you have to do It during a week?
@@Frahamen yeah, who puts their bread in the fridge, my family put it in the freezer...
There's no such thing as "illegally" using the euro. It would be illegal if Bulgaria printed it's own. Any country can use any other nations currency if it chooses, it just comes with certain problems, like no control over interest rates, inflation, no lender of last resort, and having to purchase said currency.
A good example is the large use of dollar in both the Soviet and later Russia not to mention it's no problem to use the euro in both Sweden, Denmark and Norway too.
And if you wonder why so many Brits keep on babbling about the euro crisis and its imminent death it's because the euro surpassed both the yen and the pound to become second only to the dollar leaving the pound as number four.
@@hurri7720 I'm British. Am also a Leave voter. I just don't wish the European Union any ill, and am not stupid enough to hope for a currency crash thinking it won't affect us at all.
Exactly, click bait headline
Yes!, for example Ecuador uses USD Dollars. That's legal, the thing is they depend on the FED for the monetary measures, etc.
What a shitty analysis, it's like the "extreme" right wings parties ignoring the extreme left woke parties.
That's not entirely true. While practically you're correct, there are some technicalities that make it illegal.
The actual physical piece of currency itself belongs to the issuing agency in the same way that your passport belongs to the govt, not you. It is therefore illegal to use it without the consent of the issuing agency.
Legally you can tender anything as payment, but if it doesn't actually belong to you and you don't have consent to use it, it becomes illegal.
The e at the end of "Deutsche Mark" was not silent.
German doesn’t have many silent letters in general
@Ararune Depending on the dialect you have the e in Ampel, holen, Morgen etc., then some foreign words like Portemonnaie or Baguette have a ton, and if you want to count the h in Thomas or Lohn or the e in Lied or vier you can do that as well. I can't think of any truly silent letters in high German either though...
I think it is called Deutschmark in foreign countries. So in the end it's a translation not the actual German term
@Ararune We have the silent h as a prolongation as in 'Stuhl' which you have to pronounce as 'Stuul'
Deutschmark was the informal international name AFAIK.
I don't think the question 'can Bulgaria keep the exchange course while in the waiting room' is valid.
Bulgaria has been keeping an fixes exchange rate since 1997. And the central bank has 150%+ FX reserves...so it is pretty impossible to brake the peg .
The only intelligent comment here.
That's the only really valid test. If the currency peg survives the pandemic without triggering a forced interest rate hike, Bulgaria should be in. There's not much point in going on about deficits and sustainable finances when most every country in and out the EU has had their finances toppled by Covid.
@@AnexoRialto Well the bulgarian CBA was created to hold the exchange ratio fixed. It holded from when its created 1997 and holded good to all economic crises until today. But to be honest i prefer not to change on euro or join EU waiting room.
Can you make a video about the recent pro-EU parliamentary election win in Moldova ??
I am wondering about that too, an how tldr could ignore such an important geopolitical election as Moldova's (Russian troops in Transnistria)
user lover much?
@@RrRr-wj4xv
User lover?
The Croatian government has a plan for 1/1/2023. It's earlier than Bulgaria's 2024. Why does no one mention that?
Because Bulgaria is more important for the big powers
because not enough croats watch this channel
Because Bulgaria just recently announced those plans and Croatia has been on course for a while
Because Croatia I assume is on the right course, while Bulgaria, ehh. It's quite a different story
Do you have a source for Croatia planning to join on Jan 1st 2023? I only found the Croatian PM talking about early 2023 "hopefully".
But the biggest difference is that Bulgaria announced a date and some concrete details about switching to the Euro, while Croatia is just hoping it will do it in 2023, no detailed plans provided.
I was hoping for a comparison with Romania, which joined the EU at the same time with Bulgaria. What are their plans, and why is it taking longer? What are official and informal attitudes in Romania towards the three Visegrad countries (Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic; the other, smallest,Visegrad country Slovakia joined the Euro from early on) and their go-slow attitude the the Euro?
*EU Attitude*
While Romania overall leans toward being EU-positive, the Social Democrat Party (the biggest one) or factions within it and their electorate can be EU-skeptic. Just a few years ago, the faction then ruling the PSD was spewing some very worrying anti-EU propaganda. Romania luckily dodged that bullet, but I think overall population confidence was negatively affected. The recent anti-Covid/anti-vaccine conspiracy propaganda didn't improve those numbers.
*Visegrad Group*
It's simply not a thing for Romania. Romania is not a slavic country and didn't have close historical ties with the Visegrad countries (cordial with Czechoslovakia but unfriendly with Hungary).
*Joining the Euro*
There has been too much other shit to deal with, so this was not a top priority. Besides recent political fighting, economical problems and corruption, Romania has long-been characterized by a lack of vision and long-term planning. To simplify, on a yes-no axis of converting to euro currency, Romania stands on a vague point between "Meh" and "Yeah, maybe, someday."
Slovakia has managed to adopt euro before European debt crisis, but PL HU and CZ did not, and now they are afraid to adopt it. Were it not for the eurocrisis, PL HU and CZ would have already used the euro.
there was a lot of resistance at the time towards both on the grounds of corruption
Romania was too absorbed in political instability in the past 10 years, for the politicians to put work together to plan a switch to Euro... There are declarations made by them, like last time it was ''we shall join EURO by 2024'', but there isn't anything substantial put on together... the main problems Romania have is a lack of long term vision, and a total focus on internal problems... Like, half of Europe could go at war with Russia, and Romania would still be more interested in the new pension scheme or internal scandals than what happens outside the borders. At the same time, Romania is like a leaf in the wind, it goes where the wind gets it. If EU comes and tell tham that they should prepare to move to Euro, then they may be bordered to start doing something about it... Similarly if Bulgary does some steps forward in the direction, Romania may take notice and fell like they should do something to not be left behind. Romania doesn't really care about other countries joining before them, they joined EU before too anyway, but it could be bothered if Bulgary, who joined EU at the same time, would take a step before them. The main issue would be explaining the average Joe, why they should accept the move to Euro.
@kkklau k
You only want Transilvania? Why not the whole Romania? You guys seem to be a little better at administering your country. But it isn’t mine to give and it isn’t yours to take, anyway :)
The history that both Romanian and Hungarians are taught in school about Transilvania is rather twisted. They are taught it’s rightfully theirs and we are taught it’s rightfully ours. The truth is both our ancestors happened to be in the area at the time ancient tribes were coalescing into nation-states.
You ruled it for 1000 years, now let us rule it for 1000 years and then we’ll see :)
BTW, the like is from me ;)
Why the clickbaity title. I know you guys work hard and I like what you're doing overall. But constructive criticism here - this title makes it sound like Bulgaria is using the Euro illegally.
It's a good thing that they added Cyrillic letters to the euro banknotes during the last redesign. This will make it much easier for countries like Bulgaria to join, plus it probably helps countries with large Russian minorities like the Baltic countries.
Who needs to be able to read the word Euro in their writing system to be able to use it as a currency?
@@tomlxyz it is just a sign of respect. Do you think your country would accept a currency with a different writing system like without Latin letters on it?
@@tomlxyz I do
1.96 Lev = 1 Euro is a lot more robust than I’d have thought.
well they worked hard to get there. and this exchangerate has remained relatively stable throughout the pandemic which is also quite impressive. I think bulgarias plans to join by 2024 are actually quite realistic.
Well, its just the ratio betwenn Deutsche Mark and Euro (1,95583). The Lev was pegged to the DM, as were so many other currencies
@@HerrLBrodersen yea but before 2011 the Lev was just a bit worse of, not much but they leveled it out so now you can call it stable
It is similar to the Deutsch Mark when the Euro got adopted in germany
@@AlphaHorst "well they worked hard to get there. and this exchange rate has remained relatively stable throughout the pandemic which is also quite impressive." - this is COMPLETE NONSENSE. Bulgaria didn't work hard to get that exchange rate at all. Bulgaria pegged the Lev to the Deutsche Mark in 1997 and later to the Euro when the Eurozone was created. The exchange rate of 1.96 to 1 has been the exact same for 24 years. It hasn't moved because it CAN'T move. Which means that your comment about it being "relatively stable" during the pandemic is even more nonsense. Again, it's pegged and the rate literally can't move at all. It's astounding that you'd comment on a topic when you have absolutely no clue what you're talking about.
Trivia: The BiH currency is pegged to the Euro, so it's practically like already using the Euro.
It isn't pegged to the Euro but is derived from Deutsche Mark.
@@Mico605 It *IS* pegged to the Euro, at 1€ = 1.95583лв. It cannot be derived from the Deutschmark, because that doesn't exist anymore.
@@Mico605 It and the Lev are pegged to the euro at the equivalent value the Deutschemark has
@@bentels5340 Deutschmark still exists in theory, it's just not the official currency of any country. In Croatia there are several laws that call for fines in "countervalue to DEM".
But did you know that the Bosnian convertible mark and the Bulgarian lev are of equal value? 1 lv = 1km = 0,51 Euro
1:50 would be bad if some country would lie about any of those criteria
🇬🇷
Hey who dropped a greek flag here?
I actually lol'd hard at that one xD
Can you make a video about Croatia EU integration? Namely eurozone, Schengen Area and EEA?
When Croatia will resolve its border disputes, then Croatia will be admitted to Schengen, otherwise.. bye bye Schengen for Croatia.
@@kuhar12 "Border disputes" ?
I think you mean *a* border dispute. The only one that matters, since it's with another EU member. The one with Slovenia.
The one over which Slovenia burned its political capital to condition Croatia's EU accession on the borderline arbitration, only to get caught with a hand in the cookie jar when their arbitration judge was caught on tape colluding with a government official.
Yeah, I don't think that one's going to be much of a problem.
Especially after Croatia did a lot of favors to Germany by doing the dirty work of breaking the international law for years in order block refugees at the Balkan migrant route.
@@kuhar12 Croatia will be in Schengen in few month
After buying Rafaele, France will support Croatia and force Slovenia in dog house
@@Azaghal01 Excellent reply to that fake Austrian.
@@Azaghal01 There's also a border dispute with Serbia and questions about whether or not Croatia is satisfied with it's current border with Bosnia. They are all EU candidates. Obviously their candidacy is ... Let's call it "uncertain" but there's an EU interest in stabilizing the West Balkans, not aggravating it.
Still, i wish Croatia well. Resolving these questions is simply long overdue.
Well, the Euro is being illegally used in Kosovo and Montenegro. Whilst the other non-EU countries can use it because of bilateral agreements
You mean they have laws against using it?
@@blechtic they adopted it unilaterally by themselves, without any agreement
@@blechtic There are no laws against using it, but if you want to join the EU, this becomes an issue, because a criteria to be met is a stable currency, which you can not meet if you have no currency. And Montenegro is on the waiting list.
Both at least have extenuating circumstances, with both adopting it after breaking away from Serbia.
@@blechtic having a country start using a currency entirely on it's own, makes things awkward for financial planning. That risks the stability of the currency being used. That's why using the Euro is not allowed outside of sanctioned contractors.
Finance is messy and complicated business. The law is kinda necessary.
The Euro is used unofficially in Bosnia, at least in Sarajevo. Not so sure about the sticks. 1 Euro will buy 2KM worth of goods. Not all places, but most "cash only" shops will take it.
That’s cool :) I hope y’all join us officially soon :D
@Underpaid Janitor why are you being rude bro :(
2KM worth of goods??
@Underpaid Janitor that is like saying that japan is all furries and waifus '-'
I don't see why Bulgaria would attempt to illegally use the Euro, when it's already on the path of switching to the Euro. The two years haven't elapsed yet, only one year so far and there haven't been any fluctuations of the Lev. The title of this video is really insulting, honestly.
Kind of clickbait I guess, yeah. Also misleading for those who only read titles.
Това е демокрация. Нашите еничари не ни питат эа нищо. В парламента вече 5 партии поне са Американска работа.
I’m in the UK and still think that Brexit was the stupidest thing this Country ever voted to do. The way politics is going in this Country I’m quite confident that by 2030 Scotland and Northern Ireland will have voted for independence, will have left the UK, re-joined the EU, and started the process to adopt the Euro as well.
Kosovo adopts the Euro:
EU: Nothing
Montenegro: Adopts the Euro
EU: Okay buddy you went too far
Well…since Kosovo is not recognized as a country, the EU cannot complain about it. Since it is still officially Serbia which has its own currency, its like Kosovo accepts a secondary, non-binding currency…at least on paper.
@UCqBdg4ECRXaHJXwKyupjSjg yeah, but being a country and being recognised as a country are different things
In Serb majority regions of Kosovo dinars are still used in addition to Euro making things even more complicated
Well, Montenegro has crippling debt to China. Probably factors in on the decision.
EU simping for a country that's not even real
I remember when we in Finland adopted the euro (1998?), it's not without practical problems and what was quite obvious was that when companies converted the price to the euro they would rather round it up than down.
But on the whole it was rather none dramatical.
It was in 2002 (for physical currency).
Our fear here in Bulgaria is that it won't be just rounding up, but rather keep the number and replace the currency. Which would in effect mean everything doubling in price overnight. Probably won't be that extreme, but mark my words - 50% increase in actual price is VERY likely.
@@MaoThe1st That kind of phenomenon didn't happen in other countries that have adopted the Euro, at least no where near to that extent.
@@MaoThe1st , well if the income is doubled too then it's not too bad, but on a more serious note it can't be that bad of course.
What we did in Finland was that we did not take the 1 cent coins at all. A good solution and paying electronically this makes no difference. Paying cash again it will be rounded up or down as the smallest coin is 5 cent.
Makes no difference, the important thing was to get rid of the 1 cent coins totally.
@@hurri7720 Yes, but you live in a civilized and orderly European country. We're the Wild Wild Balkans here (ask any Greek, Romanian or Croat to confirm). People would genuinely go with making an extra buck today without thinking they're taking the economy tomorrow.
"German Deutsch[e] Mark" = German German Mark?
Well the currency is called the Deutsche Mark and it makes sense to add "German" for people who don't know
“Deutschmark” is a common name for the former German currency in English. From this perspective, “German Deutschmark” is hardly worse than “French franc”
R.I.P in peace :(
It's because there was also reichsmark Goldmark and papiermark used by germany before they called mark so deutsche mark is called to differentiate from those
@@eoghan.5003 In that case, should just be called "German Marks".
You have missed something very important. The Bulgarian lev is not just pegged to the euro but under currency board. The difference is that under the board you have reserves in euro that cover every lev printed, meaning the central bank can exchange all printed levs and still have reserves . In fact it has almost double the amount to exchange all levs. Additionally the CB has a swap option with the ECB if needed. To top all that Bulgaria has one of the largest gold reserves in the area, and a trade surplus with the world, incl surplus in trade with countries like Germany and China. Therefore the lev is one of the most stable currencies in the world and does not need too get into the euro area from the back door.
The title shows, as someone has already pointed out, how clueless this channel is. Countries outside the US have been using the USD for about a century now. It is not illegal. It is also not illegal to use the Euro outside of members of the Eurozone. Those using it but not official members simply have no say in monetary policy or printing money. Montenegro uses the Europ as its official currency, though it has no say in policy and is not even in the EU. This title is deliberately misleading or simply shows how the writers of this channel are misinformed.
As a Bulgarian, I can't wait until we adopt the euro. The issue is that a large chunk of our population is severely misinformed about it. Some think that prices will be hiked up while salaries would stay the same, others think that we'll lose control over our monetary policy (which we do not have anyways since 1997). I hope that people will get better educated in the coming years and our economy will prosper by using the euro.
Welcome to the euro family !!
Валутата си е към държавата, няма какво много да се прави от други страни, ако стане нещо с еврото и ние ще сме ударени. Ако лева беше останал можеше да се измисли нещо, фиксираната сума споразумена с ЕУ не е точно контрол от наша страна, но ние си го премахнахме, за да можем да изпълним изискванията. Вместо да бъде само за влизане в еврозоната, а просто ако беше споразумение за стабилизиране на валутата пак щеше да стане. Валутата си е наред, но както се вижда предпочитате да се я захвърлим. Обмена с други валути по света нашата е една от най-силните и просто лично бях проверил с какво количество се променя, не са много дето са по-добре от нас. Това е крайна сметка е в полза за ЕУ не точно за нас. Само можеш да се надяваме, че валутата няма да има кризи, каквито не е имала до сега ( за еврото ). Липсата на избор не е хубаво нещо в крайна сметка.
It's so dumb, considering we've been pegged to the euro for so long. We're essentially using euros already since Germany has. In 1999 we pegged the Lev to the Deutsche mark and when they switched, we pegged it to the euro. We've been essentially using the Euro since 2002. There is no reason to think prices will rise. It's just not how supply and demand works
I dont hope Bulgaria gets the EURO... Again a weak country adopting the currency...
I lived in France at the time of the switch over - prices shot up significantly, mostly on food. If you are on a low fixed income it will be a massive % increase for you as and when Bulgaria adopts the Euro.
FYI - I now live in Bulgaria and the price of food is going up dramatically over the last three months anyway.
the e in "Deutsche Mark" is NOT silent. (German doesn't have a silent e)
German hardly has anything silent😁
No, but in German you can run adjectives into nouns. So Deutschmark is also correct.
@@bentels5340 according to the Duden, it is rare and outdated, so outdated it is considered rarer than Reichsmark.
I'm not german but learnt in school to differentiate wider (contrary) and wieder (again) by the silent e :)
@@Enlitner that's not a silent e. It's a diphthong. That basically means ie is treated as a single vowel that's a long i (or English e) sound.
That was quite funny "Illegally Using the Euro". You might know that Bulgarian currency is bound to Euro since the great inflation in 1996/97 (What's called Financial Stability Board) and we have the same exchange rate to euro - 1.9558 lv.
... I will like to point out the Bornholm, is a part af Denmark. So maybe it should not have the same colour as Sweden. :P
This video is just clickbait. Nothing unusual is happening with the adoption of Euro. The country is working alongside EU financial institutions to do everything the right way. I don't know where you are from, but you should have done more research, maybe ask actual experts from the country and not just speculate.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Putting "illegal" in the title seems so drastic when everything is actually progressing in a proper manner albeit slowly.
Lev is plugged to euro from the first day of euro existence at 1.96... and at this point it does not even matter, as most people use electronic payments and nobody uses cash anymore.
Yeah, no. Paper money is still the main method of payment in person and e-commerce is really not that common yet outside of a couple of specific demographics. Most people are still relatively skeptical about cashless transactions.
@@0d138 tourists that come in Bulgaria pay with cards. And when we travel abort, we pay with cards. I know many people that don't carry cash at all. And some use change for small transactions like a beer from the local store. But even they pay everything big, like furniture, cars, bills, apartments with bank transfer or similar service. The total volume of cash transactions is pretty much nothing compared to the cashless.
@@0d138 Paying with cards is the most common method of payment in person in all of the big stores.
Cash is usually reserved for smaller stores (esp in the province) where too little money move so the banks take higher percentages of the transactions.
On which planet do you live, buddy? 90+ % of all transactions in Bulgaria are made in cash. Pretty much nobody gives a shit about electronic payments. There are restrictions about them as well.
As a greek, I'm glad to welcome bulgaria to the euro-club.
We are gonna suffer together..
Greece in that time gave fakes dates about the economy stability for joining.
I hope Bulgaria this time is not hiding problems.
@@emib6599 because greece is fake state created by uk,russia,france against turkey thampon region
@@xxxxxx-rg6qr Damn, you're saltier than Pamukkale
@@xxxxxx-rg6qr are you dumb, Greece had a revolt against the Ottomans like other countries.
Turkey is the one which is fake as many Greeks, Armenians, and Abssyiads were genocided by your nation's government at the time.
Even now, your country has oppresses Kurds, and other minorities.
Bulgarian here, we had a second snap election on the 10th of July with some interesting results, maybe you could do a video on that?
Edit: for some reason I wrote 10th instead of 11th, sorry about that
While it is mandatory to pass all criteria to join the Eurozone, some countries choose not to on purpose. A great example is Sweden, who choose to keep the krona after a referendum in 2003 saw 56% of the Swedish population in favour of keeping the krona as Sweden's national currency.
Yeah it turns out tying your montary value to a foreign power is a dumb move unless you're poor.
Bulgaria is not a democracy. That's why our politicians dont ask us anything.
That's the most retarded thing I have ever saw, what do you mean you are not a democracy? There are literally parties and a government that is elected by the people. If the people are too stupid and continue to vote for liars and thieves then it's not the fault of democracy
I think you missed moldova on your thumbnail, not a big deal, just a detail you missed if you care about that
As a great supporter of the Euro, I think the big prize for the EU is to get Poland to join it. Getting Bulgaria in is just a way to show Eastern Europeans that it is safe and they’ll be better off joining it. The other countries are either too small or too poor, so neither are a big deal for the Eurozone… but 40 million Polish, relatively young, with high education levels, 3° largest exporter in the EU, that’s the Holy Grail. And it would be really beneficial for Poland as well, I hope they understand that sooner than later, and Bulgaria could help it.
Yeah, I support that
Poland is one of the most problematic country for the EU now. It is more of an hostile partner than a strategic one and will therefore unlikely be given any oportunity to get more influence in any way(it would use it against the EU).
@@trthib i agree poland needs to be a better team player. Lets hope the voters agree with me and vote the pis out.
Nice sweet-talking, but the answer is no, it's a miracle Poland is still in EU
A major problem is that the exchange rate between euro and zloty (polish currency) is 1 to around 4 or even higher, kind of hard to change to a currency 4 times the worth of your own
I really hope every EU member eventually gets to adopt the euro.
Even the african union seems to think about euro adoption or invent their own pan-continential currency
Africa is full of political- economical colonies. Bulgaria in South East Europe is just that tho
I hope my country (Sweden) never adopts the euro.
@@Wextraa is there a reason to it or...?
@@zemom.a.8171 We want to rule over ourselves, we don't want Brussels to rule over us. Sweden should stay Swedish. The Swedish crown shall remain as the currency.
@@Wextraa brussels? Ruling over you? You realize that sweden has an active participation in how the EU makes its policies right?
Its like saying "screw countries, I dont want [insert country] to rule over our city!". I dont get it. What do you gain by rejecting a bigger democracy?
I hope Hungary, Czechia, Poland will never adopting Euro, as Sweden or Denmark never does. UK was very wise to skiped that suicidal step - it would be impossible the Brexit, if they does. Slovakia lost billions of Euros to joined too earlier, and it's competetiveness weakend.... The National Banks became a puppet with the Euro, so God save us from this horror, that a currency serving the german interests only used our country to go against our own interests..
Currency substitution is not illegal despite what the EU claims a country can peg it's own currency to any other or use whatever currency it wishes ( however you lose many benefits from doing so as you have not control over the currency ) and happens to many countries,
@Ararune do you mean as a member of the EU or just " using the euro " if it's the latter currency substitution is normally done by countries with weak or failed currencies.
@Ararune I imagine the primary benefit is that forces a country to balance its budget, raising taxes or cutting spending if necessary, and being able to blame the EU for the restrictions. There is a risk a country will go on a mad borrowing binge backed by the new strong currency, like Greece, so the EU is ever tightening financial controls on its member states to prevent this.
@Ararune simplifies transactions abroad without hefty commissions when exchanging money or just buy with a card that is not in that currency. This also simplifies the life of small businesses that have some contracts abroad - otherwise they might need a hedging contract to keep the promised euros to the same amount of local currency which can be volatile against euro. Other economies are "dollarized" (in Europe, likely former deutsche mark or currently euro) - many purchases are/were expressed in a different currency: real-estate (land, apartments, rent), cars (buy/rent), telecom contracts (which rely on global technology, but also the workers' wages), previously also the computers where in euro (e.g, in Romania we had +125% per year inflation in the end of the 90s - so the prices where in dollars to extend viability of the offer, although the actual pay is done in local currency).
European law applies to members of the European Union. Obviously it does not apply to nonmembers. You're only thinking of international law. But that's not the subject here.
(JOKE!)
You'd think that those criteria would be meaningless at this point after Greece
Greece, Italy, Belgium, even France didn't qualify at the time. It would have just been politically unthinkable to exclude them.
Meh I am in greece
Kinda amazed how rich looking this nation is
@@fitmotheyap tourism money ,also the government is bankrupt not the people lol
@@chriskapou3519 tbh gj to the people then?
The trolls dont like the euro, lets see what happens in the comments
There is no need to say german deutsch Mark. Word deutsch is adjective for german.
Technically I don't think it is incorrect: "Deutsche Mark" was a currency. And if you want to clarify that it's the German currency, you can say german deutsch Mark. On the other hand you are right: It's a tautology. (But some people may not know that "deutsch" is the German word for "german")
Deutsch Mark is the name of the currency
Saying "German Deutsch Mark" is like saying "European Euro", or "French Franc". It make sense, but more than once is overkill.
What about saying Germany's German Deutsche Mark from Germany's German Deutsche Bank?
@@ElPolloRojo Currencie's name used to be "deutsche mark" in FRG and in DRG
@@ElPolloRojo As a matter of fact, Germany used several currencies called "mark". Also there where several other countries who used the "mark" as their currency. Obviously we're not talking about the 14th century, but to avoid any confusion it seems reasonable to talk about the "deutsche mark"
Have you done a video on why Denmark stayed with the Krone? If not, that would be an interesting topic
Or Britain keeping the pound even before they left
@@maxkirk944 there's loads of stuff about that already - look up Black Wednesday
Based UK and Denmark
Why? Because they're reactionary and nationalistic.
Denmark had a opt-out.
Why does everyone enjoy putting illegal and Bulgaria in the same sentence :D
@@helios4650 ok that makes sense :)
@@helios4650 If it's not illegal to take illegal action then the legal system is corrupt.
On inflation mentioned in the video. Inflation in Bulgaria nowadays is primarily related to increasing standards. Since Bulgaria is "the poorest EU country" there is a lot of catching up to do and that leads to inflation. As opposed to currency depreciation induced inflation, which does not happen in Bulgaria any differently from Eurozone countries. So that's why the ECB is not really concerned that much with the slightly higher inflation Bulgaria had in 2020.
ads at the end are so much less obtrusive and i find myself not skipping through them but actually watching them, whereas before id skip through the intro ads
This video is literally full of approximations. There’s no such thing as illegally adopting a currency unilaterally. Bulgaria has been pegged to the euro since the beginning. Montenegro did not a adopt the deutsche mark in 1994 ! Jesus ! So you use Wikipédia to make your videos but you even read it correctly 😂
We all hope so! I believe Bulgaria will join the eurozone and Schengen soon and it will partly boost the economy. As mentioned last two years was unusual so…
Video: has my country
Me: instant happiness
Kosovo is not a country. It is a territory of Serbia under 1244 UN resolution that confirmed it.
Euros are unofficially accepted by stores in Bosnia (B. Posavina at least)
are you a bosnian croat? and also how is the political situation there in bosnia
@@walrus1074 yes.
I have lived in Germany for 4 years now though and I don't follow Bosnian politics that much tbh but it still has the three president system and all that and nothing's changed much.
People are leaving fast. I go to my home village and the streets are quite empty. There are a lot of empty houses owned by people who live abroad now.
My aunt from my mother's side and an uncle from father's side both ran for local office, and I find the idea of my family becoming politicians quite funny, although it is a big family.
Last time I went there a Jysk was being built on the edge of my village and neighbourimg city. Don't know the value of the investment since the population is shrinking and isn't getting any richer, I assume.
@@antonioklaic4839 In a lot of countries the EURO is accepted. Bosnia is not a unique case.
No, they should not. The ECB is buying bad loans from banks, the member states guarantees these billions. It means also to become a member of the Bank Union and the stabilation pact with all it’s billions of guarantees from Bulgeria to the EU and ECB.
It also takes away the instrument of devaluation. Economies like the France, Germany, Netherlands are much more productive and stronger, so Bulgeria is no match. If you don’t have any earning power how are going to invest in your economy? Structurale investments is equale to sustianable growth. If you can’t compete on productivity, you have to on price, hence devaluation is needed. So joining the euro and bulgeria will become like Greece and Italy: poor and high youth unemployement..
I lost my last three brain cells trying to read the thumbnail.
I think it's weird the EU worries that countries uses euro as currency. Obviously, they can't print or be part of the ECB, but the dollar is used so much in failed countries that even has a word for this (dollarization) without any negative consequences to the US. It even strenghten their position as reserve currency.
I don't think the EU worries about them using it. After all, there are no actions taken against this at all. Like you say, they can't print or be part of ECB, and there are really no downsides to other countries buying and using your currency as it only strengthens your currency value. Bulgaria obviously wants to join the Eurozone, and as members they will in due time. If anything it's a good effort on their part. Once the requirements are met the transition will be swift and smooth because the entire population is already somewhat used to it and products that are already bought in Euros won't see a price shift.
This is a pretty clickbait video..
It's not really a danger for the EU if Euro is used without permission, but it could give 3rd parties some interesting ideas that are a pain to deal with. I am talking anything from tax evasion to new EU members trying to skip the Euro adoption procedure.
The EU country that could adapt to the Euro most easy is probably Sweden. It is also a country that has shown close to zero interest to go from the Swedish Krona to the Euro.
I'm Swedish and I've been very positive towards the Euro from the beginning, but you're correct. Sadly it is a prevalent opinion here that we would lose something special by moving away from our precious krona.
@@luske2 I really do not have an opinion on Euro/Krona. I just know that the question kind of died when the problems in the eurozone and Greekland came to light around something like 2008.
@@erikgranqvist3680 yep the latest polls show only about 20% of people here favour adopting the euro.
Bulgarian here, I hope we don't adopt it. Our purchasing power would drop even more and our shattered economy would be left to die in a EU wide-collapse. The Lev atleast allows us to have some form of flexibility to fight our own fiscal issues in case they arise rather than having to go through the EU. And considering I do not see the EU the surviving more than a decade, it would a suicide to jump on a sinking ship.
I'm Bulgarian and I don't want the EURO as my currency. Every country that adopted the EUROS got a lot poorer I spend 10 years in Italy and if you stop just about any Italian on the street and ask him what he thinks about the EURO he will spit on it in front of you the same goes for the Germans and Austrians the EURO project is complete failure and disaster
ask estonians, slovenians etc
💚❤️🇵🇹👍🏻Welcome Bulgária!
3:06 Bulgarian lev was firstly pegged with German marks back on 1999 after Bulgaria cancelled 3 zeros on their monetary value
When an argument "Begs the Question," it means that the argument is circular. It does not mean the same as "Raises the Question".
While this mistake is becoming more and more common, it does somewhat diminish your perceived authority.
Hey can you do a video about the elections in Bulgaria
Im swedish. If we were ever forced to adopt the Euro I would vote to leave honestly.
Bättre än den svenska kronan iallafall
but why?
Well I don't like the decision integrating the euro so i hoped we had such choice but it kinda was already decided.
@Techno Lion every country has to adopt the euro eventually, that's what they agreed to when they joined the EU. Also why not take Euro? it's better than national currency anyway. To me is a pain to switch currencies when you go to countries that don't have euro. Also...after what happened to UK, I don't think exiting is a good thing, it breaks up the country. Scotland wants independence, NI is also thinking of leaving, wales too. If sweeden were to leave, some parts would choose to go independent so they can remain in EU. Exiting the EU, is one of the most stupid thing to do.
LOL It's not fair to county who use Euro 🤷
The video doesn't address a very important question specifically: "Why would Bulgaria want to adopt the EUR?"
In Bulgaria after the financial crisis in 1995-96 that lead to hyperinflation the drastic measure of the IMF monetary board was taken. Basically government spending and policy were regulated for many years in far stricter way then the Eurozone. Later the strict IMF board and requirements expired, but Bulgaria has stayed on the same measure never the less. In Bulgaria the monetary board financial stability is seen as key foundation, despite the heavy austerity cost it brought in. No Bulgarian politician since 1997 has dared touch that.
Now joining the EUR provides similar currency stability to the monetary board, but with a lot less austerity and spending regulation. That's why Bulgaria wants the EUR. Basically Bulgaria has been keeping far stricter financial discipline then the Eurozone requires for 1/4 century, so Eurozone regulation is a relaxation of fiscal requirements. Eurozone crisis did affect Bulgaria anyway, because BGN is linked to the EUR, so that's not adding any additional concern.
The primary reason other countries would want to join the EUR is usually currency stability. Bulgaria already has that through the monetary board.
The EU be like: It is an OBLIGATION to use the euro!
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Sweden: We don't do that here.
Actually, most of those countries want to join the euro, they just don't meet the criteria yet.
montengro: well if you insist...
EU: NOT YOU!
@@marneus Most of them don't want to, and so intentionally don't meet the criteria. Also Denmark and Sweden have an Opt-Out of the Euro, because they joined before it
@@marneus Romania don't want to join yet, and Romania in terms of gdp and gdp per capita and buying power is above Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary.
@@marneus A lot of them are on the fence about joining, only Bulgaria and Croatia are actually making moves on switching to the euro. The others don't really know if it's worth it yet.
My country Bulgaria shouldn't adopt the euro as currency first of all because lev is part of bulgarian sovereignty and history, more than half of bulgarians don't want the euro, the second thing if we adopt the euro, would be a huge economic crisis like in Greece.
Yes Bulgaria is better off not going anywhere near the EU.
@@AJ-jj7te Bulgaria has a future without EU, EU has been supporting corruption for years in our country
*I lived in France at the time of the switch over* - prices shot up significantly, mostly on food.
If you are on a low fixed income it will be a massive % increase for you as and when Bulgaria adopts the Euro.
FYI - I now live in Bulgaria and the price of food is going up dramatically over the last three months anyway.
Dude if you switch to any other continent they will join the EU 🤣🤣
because of shortages related to the pandemic...
the price increase had nothing to do with the currency, but with market related actions. the indirect capital costs in consumer prices rose.
what are indirect capital costs? when u buy a piece of bread, and in the price your pay for it you pay not only production costs, but also the debts of the farmer, of the transport companies the backery and the market + the margins of the farmer, the transport, the supermarket etc. in austria capital costs of a piece of bread are like 80%, of which about 40% goes as work-free income to the banks and their shareholdes, which "invested" into the companies, 40% as margins to the companies involved to produce and bring the bread into the shelf, only the rest of the price are real production/processing/delivering costs
@Ararune you wanna have shot answer in one sentence? No Problem:
"Dont blame your currency, Blame the filthy rich, and the corrupt goverments, that protect their interests to get richer and richer"
Or another one: "Blame yourself for not voting, (nearly all of the non voters are poor!), so that the well situated people that go to vote can bring a market liberal majority (or fake christ-democrats) into parliament, that serve their interests, not yours"
One of the downsides of € is that without a national central bank, a country can't do monetary tricks like devaluation when such things are needed. This has caused problems in Italy and Greece. Also leaving € is impossible because all people with wealth would immediately leave the country
Would they be leaving because they’d lose money in the conversion process if they stayed? Why would that be the case?
@@Volatile-Tortoise Investors like money to be stable. New money has always been unstable while the country figures out the prices of assets. Also the logistics of transporting goods from one market-economy to another take time and money to get figured out. These things cause recessions. Post-USSR countries had easier time in changing currencies (rubles->their own 90's currency-> €) after the collapse. They already had their currencies spiraling, so it was easy to change worthless currency to another new worthless currency and then start building the new one up
Bulgaria should ditch the Lev, but not in exchange for the Euro. Rather they should ditch money all together (same applies to the rest of the world)
Ahh, good ol' communism is the solution again.
"I'm from the Philippines but I love more the Euro currency more than the US Dollar yet I received money remittances yearly during the ber months since few of my loved ones living in France for many years .?!"
Well, it was always the goal that the Euro becomes a global currency. A counterweight to the US-Dollar.
The fact that other countries adopt the Euro as their currency, without having a say in it, should therefore actually please the Euro group. It is just natural, that a stable, widely accepted currency is adopted in these countries.
Bosnian Mark and Bulgarian Lev are German Mark. Their rate to Euro is fixed. As it is true for over 20 years, it will give no economic impact to switch to euro (just slice all prices in half). Only who would suffer are money exchange offices.
Will 1 GBP hit 1 Euro?
Depends, if weaker economies join, the Euro will struggle to improve and may weaken.
anything is possible.....but I doubt it
If trends of last couple of years are taken into account then no
Thanks to Brexit...YES
Idk, but i don't even know if It's a good thing or not 🤔
This video's title is misleading, click bait at best. Cheap move, I expected better from you
Appreciate the videos on Bulgaria; I'm British but my girlfriend is Bulgarian and I've been there 3 times in the last year so it's useful knowing these things
Thats something I've never thought of.. but its such an interesting topic! Thanks guys :)
Bulgaria: 2.6% inflation.
EU: That's high.
1970's: Am I a joke to you?
The top obstacle for Bulgaria joining the Euro, just like the Schengen zone is the total lack of the rule of law. Corruption is a major stopper for Bulgaria right now and although it is not set as a requirement for joining, Euro countries are not fond of accepting Bulgaria as they are afraid that this will undermine the European policy on the matter. Moreover, a lot has happened during the last few years where Bulgaria struggled because of the corrupt ruling of GERB and the former prime minister Boyko Borisov. In the meantime, the national currency - LEV lost a lot of its purchasing power to an extent where voices are being heard if we should give up on the Eurozone. As usual, parties against switching to Euro are backed by Russia. Due to the war in Ukraine, it became obvious that most BG parties have strong ties with Putin's Russia including Borisov.
Zimbabwe is illegally using the U.S. dollar, doesn't mean they're going to apply for statehood
They should though
We need a 51st state
@@adrianafamilymember6427 dc and puerto rico are _right there_
@@MFlari puerto rico is a stolen spanish colony though
@@RandomgamingholstCoolgaming we've had it stolen for so long we should've integrated it already. you could say the same about literally all of the southwest because we yoinked it from mexico. puerto rico does still hold a solidified puerto rican and usonian identity, and would hardly be any better than haiti if we just let it go anyways.
@@MFlari integrated? Only 5% of puerto ricans speak english.... The rest speak spanish. Also theyre catholic whereas the US is mostly protestant/angevilican.
Bulgaria should NOT swap the Lev with the Euro. We don't need it! We already have one of the strongest currencies in the world so why should we? Look at what happened to Greece! Bulgaria is the weakest economy in the EU so the result would be far worse then what the Greeks had. I wish we could have a referendum instead of being forced, just like we got forced to join NATO and the EU in first place.
Euro is reason why Finland has slowest growth in EU atm.
If we had our old mark, we could compete way easier with other countries.
0:21
Yuan: am I joke to you?
yes Yuan you are a joke,
the world does not trust communists with money
Communists don't allow free flow of yuan. The reason being that demand for USD goods/properties is much higher in China than vice versa so the yuan would quickly devalue.