Posted 07/12/2014 08:36 am
Quote:
So who's next to join? The Czech Republic? Poland? Romania? Croatia?
So who's next to join? The Czech Republic? Poland? Romania? Croatia?
There are seven countries in the European Union, not yet in the Eurozone and who are obliged by treaty to eventually join the Eurozone: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden. None of these countries have signed up to the "exchange rate mechanism", which they have to be a member of for at least two years before formally joining the euro, so 2017 is the earliest any of them could in theory join the euro. Of these, Sweden can be ruled out anytime soon because they've twice voted down the euro in a referendum and all the political parties have pledged not to hold another one. Bulgaria is meeting all the criteria and wants to join, but is setting preconditions which the European Central Bank finds unacceptable. All the other countries have been rather nebulous at setting their goals, with those mentioning dates at all usually aiming for a 2019 or 2020 date - a timeframe comfortably beyond the next election.
Given the rise of anti-EU sentiment across Europe in recent years and the sovereign debt crisis shaking confidence in the practicality of the euro, I would be surprised if any of these countries rushed to join. Being pro-EU and pro-euro is no longer the vote-winner it used to be in Eastern Europe.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
