Commission sees smooth euro transition for EU-10

The Commission foresees a “fast and smooth” transition for the
EU’s new member states to the eurozone between 2007 and 2010.

In its first comprehensive report on the new member states’
practical preparations for adopting the euro, the Commission has
found that all ten newcomers wish to join the common currency
between 2007 and 2010. Three new members (Estonia, Lithuania and
Slovenia) have already been in the EU’s exchange rate mechanism
(ERM II) since June 2004. ERM II membership is one of the
conditions for entering the eurozone.

According to the Commission, the common currency’s introduction
should be “faster and even smoother” in the EU-10 than in the
current eurozone members because every second EU-10 citizen “has
already used euro notes and coins”. “But there is no room for
complacency,” the report adds, recalling that it took six years for
the current eurozone countries to prepare for the changeover.

Most newcomers will introduce the euro in a so-called ‘big bang’
process – meaning that their eurozone entry date will coincide with
the actual introduction of the new euro notes and coins. In the
current eurozone countries, the euro had existed as virtual
currency for three years before the notes and coins were
introduced.

To date, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia have announced
2007 as their target date for adopting the euro (and these
countries are already finalising their changeover plans), while for
the other six countries 2010 remains the self-imposed deadline.

A recent Eurobarometer survey has revealed that 71% of the EU-10
citizens are worried that the changeover to the euro might result
in abuses and cheating on prices.

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Parliament to invite observers from Bucharest and Sofia

The European Parliament has started inviting observers from Bulgaria and Romania in preparation for the scheduled 2007 accession of the two countries.