Commission paves the way for Croatia to join the Euro

3 June 2022

As part of its 2022 Convergence Report, the European Commission finally paved the way for Croatia to enter the eurozone. After years on the side lines, the country may now become the twentieth country to join the EU’s common currency. 

Since joining the European Union as the, at the time, 28th Member State on 1 July 2013, Croatia has been on a steady path of aligning its economic, fiscal and monetary policy to that of the European Central Bank. While, technically, all EU Member States are required to move towards convergence with the eurozone and adapt the common currency, the Croatia was the only country who genuinely pursued this target. 

Following this week’s Commission approval, the Council of the EU will make the final decisions on Croatia’s euro accession at its next meeting in July, after discussions in the Eurogroup and in the European Council. While he European Parliament and the ECB are also yet to give their opinions on the Croatian accession, they are not expected to stand in its way. 

Speaking of the prospects of Croatia joining the single currency, European Commission President von der Leyen said in a statement that “less than a decade after joining the EU, Croatia is now ready to join the euro area on 1 January 2023. This will make Croatia’s economy stronger, bringing benefits to its citizens, businesses and society at large.”

With the Commission’s green light, the country would be the first country to join the eurozone since Lithuania’s accession in 2015. 

Meanwhile, in its Report, the Commission still warned that more work remained to be done in stabilising the country’s financial system, specifically regarding the quality of its national financial services and banking regulation and its fight against systematic corruption.