Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

This will likely come with a one-time significant increase in inflation, at least based on other European countries.

When Germany converted to the Euro, the conversion rate was (IIRC) about ~2 DM to the Euro but from what I recall, a lot of everyday things went from costing 7 DM to 7 euro, effectively doubling in price. IIRC France was similar (ie ~6.5 francs to the Euro but 10 Francs went to 3 euro, etc).

I've tried searching for any studies on this to see if the effect was measured and, if so, whether it held with later countries joining the euro.

I'm a little surprised that the euro has been this stable for this long (going on 30 years). Finland debated leaving. IT's debated if there's even a legal mechanism to leave. We still have the problem that the ECB sets eurozone monetary policy with Germany and Greece being vastly different economies.

I was in Belgium the week the Belgian franc converted to Euros. I saw no price changes other than rounding up or down to the nearest Euro equivalent price. If memory serves some stores showed prices in both denominations for a while which would not have allowed for stealth inflation to happen.

The currencies were pegged for a period before then so other than niche cases there really weren’t opportunities for massive price increases.

I’m Belgian. This is correct. Even now, some people here still convert euros to francs to get a grasp on the value.