Slovakia won formal endorsement on Thursday from European Union (EU) leaders to join the euro zone in 2009, ready to become the 16th member to use the single currency euro.
The following are major steps in the country's bid for eurozone membership.
Slovakia, which joined the EU in 2004, has participated in ERM II since November 2005. The ERM, or exchange rate mechanism, aims to reduce exchange rate variability and achieve monetary stability in preparation for introduction of the euro.
After a two-year evaluation period ending April 2008, the European Commission proposed in May to accept Slovakia into the euro zone from the beginning of 2009, saying the country had been prepared for the adoption of the single currency.
In order to win the eurozone membership, a candidate country must fulfill certain criteria in terms of inflation, public finances, interest rates, exchange rate and legislation.
EU finance ministers gave green light on June 3 to Slovakia's entry into the euro zone and so the European Parliament two days ago.
Following the EU leaders' formal endorsement, EU finance ministers were scheduled to finalize their approval in July, setting the conversion rate between the euro and Slovakia's currency koruna.
Slovakia will be the 16th member of the euro zone. It will also be the fourth to adopt the euro among the ten mid and eastern European countries which joined the EU in 2004, following Malta and Cyprus, which adopted the euro this year, and Slovenia, which joined the euro zone in 2007.
With a gross domestic product of 55 billion U.S. dollars in nominal term in 2007, according to the International Monetary Fund(IMF), Slovakia will be the largest economy among the EU newcomers to use the euro.
Source:Xinhua
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