EU Leaders Endorse Croatia’s Entry into Euro Area

EU leaders supported the recommendation on Croatia’s entry into the euro area on Friday. This is the second-last step in the decision-making process. The last step will be the adoption of three legislative proposals on Croatia’s entry, which will take place at a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council on 12 July, and from 1 January next year the euro will be the official currency in Croatia.

Croatia will be the 20th member of the euro area. It will be the first enlargement of the euro area since 2015 when Lithuania joined.

Together with Slovenia, Croatia is the country that spent the least time in the euro waiting room, the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, the minimum two years, while Lithuania, for example, spent 11 years and Latvia nine years in the ERM II.