Germany, still smarting after 10 years fighting the Greece-triggered debt crisis, is helping apply the brake to Bulgaria’s euro aspirations while the Netherlands, home of a strong anti-immigration party, and France, which has suffered high-profile terrorist attacks in recent years, are among the EU countries acting as a check on any Schengen enlargement, according to officials in Brussels, Berlin and Sofia who spoke on the condition of anonymity. [...]
Bulgaria, which is planning a bid to join the exchange-rate regime known as ERM-2 that’s part of the road to euro accession, ticks all the economic boxes. It’s national currency, the lev, is already pegged to the euro; public debt is well below both the euro area’s average and the cap set in the EU rulebook; and the nation is running a budget surplus, comfortably far from the European limit for deficits of 3 percent of gross domestic product. [...]
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in September that Bulgaria, along with Romania, should become part of Schengen “immediately” because they met all the technical requirements. Bulgaria’s Zaharieva said that the country has been ready to join Schengen “for many years” and that “this double standard should not exist.” [...]
Other officials point to Bulgaria’s level of corruption -- the worst in the EU, according to Transparency International. They say the euro area must look beyond hard economic criteria to the strength of national institutions when considering opening the door to new members.
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