02.10.2018

In execution of the commitment taken in the Letter of Intent for participation in the ERM2 dated 18 July this year, Bulgaria has sent a request for a close cooperation in the framework of the Single Supervisory Mechanism to ensure the fulfilment of one of the preconditions for our simultaneous participation in both the ERM2 and the mechanism for close cooperation from the same time. This process is expected to be finalised within one year.

The formal procedure for such type of cooperation has been applied for the first time since the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism and is defined in details in the Decision of the European Central Bank of 31 January 2014 on the close cooperation with the national competent authorities of participating Member States whose currency is not the euro (ECB/2014/5). Pursuant to Decision ECB/2014/5, the request contains, as an annex, draft legislative texts regulating the role of the ECB in the national framework on the supervision of banking financial institutions as from the date of the beginning of the close cooperation.

At present the Ministry of Finance, the BNB and the ECB are coordinating a draft of these texts, which will be submitted to the ECB for a formal opinion.

In conclusion, we would like to point out that the competent Bulgarian institutions strictly and consistently follow the Action Plan adopted by the government, which includes the measures for accession to the ERM2 and the Banking Union.