The National Assembly directly adopted in the second reading legislative changes introduced by the Council of Ministers to guarantee the independence of the members of the Management Board of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) in case of early dismissal.

The legal changes aim to overcome the legal inconsistencies necessary for Bulgaria's entry into the Еurozone from January 1, 2024, found in the Convergence Reports of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission for 2020. Out of 188 people's representatives who voted, "in favor" were 162, "against" - 26, there were no abstentions. Only the parliamentary group of "Vazrazhdane" voted against.

With the adoption of the proposed amendments, the independence of the members of the Management Board (MB) of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) is guaranteed, by giving them access to effective legal remedies and the possibility of judicial review of the legality of the grounds in the procedure for their dismissal.

The transitional provisions in the draft law also amend the Law on Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property, from which it follows that the establishment of a conflict of interest by a legal act that has entered into force is grounds for dismissal from office, unless in The Constitution or Statute of the European System of Central Banks and the ECB provides otherwise.

The bill is one of the measures in the Action Plan, which includes measures to fulfill Bulgaria's subsequent commitments after joining the Monetary Mechanism II (ERM II).

The only MP who spoke during the debates was Dimo Drenchev from "Vazrazhdane", who stated that this bill is essentially useful, but that the problem lies in its speedy adoption. Drenchev is of the opinion that the National Assembly adopted the bill under pressure from the EU for Bulgaria's entry into the Eurozone. His speech went unanswered, and so the parliament went to a vote.

After the adoption of the bill in the first reading, Petar Chobanov from DPS proposed to vote directly in the second reading, because there were no proposals for amendments to the legislative texts. His proposal was accepted.

During the second reading vote, a curious situation occurred, in which 20 people from the "Vazrazhdane" parliamentary group voted "in favor" the legislative changes, even though they are necessary for the admission of Bulgaria to the Eurozone - a process that the party openly does not support and disputes. "Vazrazhdane" asked for a re-vote and corrected their mistake - this time their entire group voted "no".

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