EU says Croatia ready to adopt euro in 2023

BELGRADE, Serbia

The European Commission announced Wednesday that Croatia has met all the conditions for adopting the euro common currency at the beginning of 2023.

The commission published a report that determines the preparation levels of European Union member countries that do not use the euro to join the eurozone.

The report said the number of eurozone member states would increase to 20 after Croatia adopts the euro.

It was noted that Croatia met criteria in areas such as price stability, public finances, the exchange rate and long-term interest rates in the transition to the euro.

The final decision on the country's transition to the euro is expected to be taken by the European Council in July after the European Parliament and European Central Bank give their views.

The initial report evaluated the progress of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden in the eurozone accession process.

Croatia in May approved a law that paves the way for the introduction of the euro currency.

Croatia, which joined the EU in 2013, is due to replace the Croatian kuna with the euro on Jan. 1, 2023.

Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal decided that the euro would come into effect in January 1999.

In 2002, euro notes and coins were introduced in the EU countries that accepted the currency.

In the beginning, 11 countries began using the euro. With the transition of Greece in 2001, Slovenia in 2007, the Greek Cypriot administration and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014 and Lithuania in 2015, the eurozone had a total of 19 members.

The euro is the second most used reserve currency in the world after the US dollar.