Still, Democratic Bulgaria is itself also fully alive to public fears over prices and has proposed a bill that would improve price transparency, effectively compelling big retail business to publish the price of their products on a daily basis.
To avoid a spike in inflation, EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis also supported closely monitoring prices, calling for the “nam[ing] and sham[ing]” of businesses that use euro accession as an excuse to raise prices.
More broadly, the EU is disputing the claims that eurozone accession will lead to substantially higher prices in the medium-term.
“In recent cases [of eurozone accession], inflation has been minor, somewhere between 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent. And that’s more than offset in the medium term by lower interest rates, lower currency conversion costs, better price transparency,” the EU’s economy commissioner Dombrovskis told reporters in Luxembourg on Thursday evening.
He added that he would work with Bulgarian businesses to ensure that they “are not using introduction of the euro as an excuse to increase prices.”
“That’s something we need to be vigilant and to ensure that protocols, preparations and price monitoring are there,” Dombrovskis continued.
Eurozone finance ministers approved Bulgaria’s accession on Friday.
