- Title: Croatia ready to join euro zone from 2023 - ECB
- Date: 1st June 2022
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JUNE 1, 2022) (REUTERS) GERMAN CHANCELLOR OLAF SCHOLZ AND CROATIAN PRIME MINISTER ANDREJ PLENKOVIC ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, OLAF SCHOLZ, SAYING: "It is my personal commitment that the countries of the Western Balkans will now begin talks on accession to the European Union as soon as possible and that progress will be made there. Such accession is in the interests of us all, because it strengthens the Union and stabilizes the Balkans. For this reason, I consider it's important that the EU's negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania on EU accession can practically begin as soon as possible." SCHOLZ SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, OLAF SCHOLZ, SAYING: "One thing is of course particularly remarkable: right now, almost as we are meeting, the European Central Bank and the relevant institutions of the European Union have noted the progress that Croatia has made to adopt the euro in its own country. This is an issue that is very close to my heart. After all, I was already concerned about this when I was finance minister and was in close contact with my colleague there. In this respect, today is also a good day, because we are seeing progress." NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY / PLENKOVIC SPEAKING PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (Croatian) CROATIAN PRIME MINISTER ANDREJ PLENKOVIC, SAYING: (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION): "A positive assessment on behalf of the European Commission will create a very good foundation so that the member countries of the Euro zone first of all and of course all member countries of the European Union - and we now also expect the opinion of the European Parliament on this - will also be positive. As far as our expectations in the next few weeks are concerned, Croatia should actually receive this final decision by the end of next month with regard to our accession." JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES SCHOLZ SPEAKING NEWS CONFERENCE ONGOING SCHOLZ AND PLENKOVIC SHAKING HANDS AND LEAVING
- Embargoed: 15th June 2022 18:36
- Keywords: Croatia European Central Bank European Commission euro zone
- Location: BERLIN AND FRANKFURT, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN AND FRANKFURT, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Europe,Currencies/Foreign Exchange Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001199601062022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Croatia is ready to join the euro zone, the European Central Bank (ECB) and European Commission said on Wednesday (June 1), paving the way for the Balkan country to adopt the euro from the start of 2023 and become the 20th European state to use the currency.
"We are pleased to report that based on the assessment, Croatia fulfils all criteria to adopt the euro as of the January 1, 2023. This is a remarkable achievement since both the pandemic and the war on Ukraine have made it more difficult to achieve convergence," ECB executive board member Philip R. Lane said in a video statement.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the assessment during a joint news conference with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic in Berlin.
"This is an issue that is very close to my heart. After all, I was already concerned about this when I was finance minister and was in close contact with my colleague there. In this respect, today is also a good day, because we are seeing progress," Scholz told reporters at a joint news conference with Plenkovic.
Once the Commission's assessment is approved by EU leaders in June, EU finance ministers will set in July the exchange rate at which Croatia's currency, the kuna, will be converted into the euro on Jan. 1, 2023.
Croatia will then have six months for practical preparations for the currency switch.
To adopt the euro, Croatia, a member of the EU since 2013, had to fulfil criteria of price and exchange rate stability, budget deficit and public debt and long-term interest rates, all measured against EU benchmarks.
The Commission also examined its economic integration and convergence with the rest of the euro zone, including balance of payments trends and the integration of its product, labour and financial markets and verified that its central bank laws are compatible with euro zone laws on the European Central Bank.
(Production: Oliver Barth, Ulrike Heil) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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