It will be January 1, 2023, exactly 10 years after its entry into the Union. Hello euro, goodbye kuna, the Croatian currency, whose coins today all bear the design of an animal, marten, fish, bear or nightingale. The European Commission gave the green light on Thursday June 1, considering that Croatia met all the conditions. The European Central Bank, too, issued a positive opinion. We will still have to wait for the formal decision of the finance ministers of the 27, in July, and the fixing of a definitive exchange rate. Croatia will then become the 20th country in the euro zone.
To pass the exam, you must meet a certain number of criteria: first, you must not have too much inflation. Over one year, from April 2021 to April 2022, Croatia is at 4.7%, like France, it is just below the maximum threshold. Its finances are healthy with a public deficit of less than 3% of GDP. On the other hand, its debt is significant: it represents 80% of GDP.
Croatia lives mainly from tourism, its relatively poor economy has been particularly affected by the Covid-19. For two years, finances have spun, but economists welcome the government’s efforts to bring it down. It is also necessary that the banks are in good health, that the statistical data of the country are not too fanciful, that the authorities really fight against money laundering, etc. On all these criteria, Zagreb had to show its credentials and it took time. Today for the President of the Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, the adoption of the euro will “strengthen Croatia’s economy, benefiting its citizens, businesses and society as a whole, and this will also strengthen the euro”.
In Croatia, too, we are a little less optimistic. According to a study carried out in March and April, the introduction of a new currency arouses a lot of fears: only 30% of the four million inhabitants consider the country ready for the European currency. And 87% of the population believe that this passage will lead to price increases. Delicate question in this period when all of Europe is experiencing high inflation.
After Croatia, among those knocking on the door, there is Bulgaria, which launched its process at the same time as Zagreb but which had to postpone its accession at best until January 1, 2024, for lack of sufficient economic progress.