Dr Andrej Bajuk, the Slovenian Finance Minister and current President of the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), has expressed satisfaction that, in the Convergence Reports published today by the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB), the Slovak Republic was assessed as having successfully fulfilled the criteria permitting it to introduce the euro on 1 January 2009.
ECOFIN President Dr Bajuk took the opportunity to stress, “We support the Slovak Government’s efforts to ensure a smooth changeover to the single currency as of 1 January 2009. To that end we will ensure that the proposal is examined thoroughly in the EU Council in the immediate future. We would also express support for further enlargement of the euro zone, subject to the requisite criteria being clearly fulfilled.”
The June Economic and Financial Affairs Council will discuss the Commission and ECB Convergence Reports and will prepare an opinion for the European Council meeting on 19 and 20 June, at which EU Heads of State and Government will discuss and decide on support for the Slovak Republic’s accession to the euro zone. The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, which has a consultative role, is expected to adopt an opinion on the Slovak Republic’s accession to the euro area under the consultation process in June. In the final stage of the process, probably at its meeting on 8 July, ECOFIN will adopt the legal basis for the adoption of the euro in the Slovak Republic: a Decision on the adoption of the euro, a Regulation on the final conversion rate and a Regulation on the introduction of the euro.
