MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2022) European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni said on Monday that the final conversion rate of the Croatian kuna to the euro has been approved, thereby finalizing the procedural steps before the final decision on Croatia adopting euro to be made by the eurozone members.
"Very happy to take today the penultimate procedural step considering Croatia's accession to the euro area, with the endorsement of the final conversion rate for the kuna. This will be communicated tomorrow once the legal acts are adopted by the Council, clearing the way for Croatia to take this historical step on January the first next year," Gentiloni told a briefing following the Eurogroup meeting.
After entering the eurozone Croatia will join the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling said, while commending the country's remarkable achievements.
"We are very happy at the ESM that Croatia will join our family. Croatia will join the ESM after joining the euro area. And we all happy about the remarkable progress that we see in Croatia over the last few years. So technical preparations for Croatia to join the ESM have started and will go very smoothly," Regling said.
On July 5, the European Parliament endorsed the accession of Croatia to the eurozone, currently consisting of 19 European Union member states, paving the way for Zagreb to go forward with procedural steps, which are expected to be completed by January 2023.
