In the European Parliament, hardly anyone is opposed to Croatia joining the euro area, Romanian MEP Siegfriend Muresan said on Monday evening while opening discussion on the introduction of the euro as legal tender in Croatia on 1 January 2023.

On 24 June, EU leaders supported the recommendation on Croatia’s accession to the euro area. Before a country joins the euro area, the European Commission issues a recommendation, the European Parliament gives its opinion on the recommendation, and a final decision rests with the member states.

The discussion at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the vote by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs in June showed that Croatia’s bid to join the euro area was backed by the largest political groups. Only two right-wing groups traditionally sceptical towards European integration, Identity and Democracy (ID) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), voiced negative opinions.

Siegfried Muresan, a Romanian member of the European People’s Party (EPP) and the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Croatia’s accession to the euro area, called on MEPs to support Croatia’s accession to the euro area, noting that hardly anyone in Parliament was opposed to this.

He said that the adoption of the euro by Croatia would make the European Union stronger and simplify travel, doing business and investment.

In a highly positive report on Croatia’s readiness for euro adoption, Muresan said that in Croatia, despite the crises, all economic indicators remained stable and in accordance with the criteria set before euro area member states.

Muresan praised the budget and finance policies of the government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, his EPP colleague.

Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni also called on the MEPs to provide political support for the introduction of the euro in Croatia, calling it a historic step for a country that had been in war 30 years ago. It will also be a strong signal of trust that European monetary integration is a successful project, he added.

Margarida Marques of the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) group said that Croatia’s accession to the euro area would be a sign of unity and increasing integration in the EU and would strengthen the euro as a global currency.

She pointed out that Croatia’s entry would be the biggest sign of progress in EU integration since Brexit. Croatia’s entry into the most integrated group of EU countries is a historic step for Europe, Marques noted.

Georgios Kyrtsos of the liberal Renew Europe group said that euro enlargement was a good day for Europe because it sent a strong political message that the EU was progressing despite the difficulties.

France Jamet, a member of the ID group, asked why Croatia was being allowed to adopt the single currency amid the Ukraine crisis, the COVID pandemic, growing inflation and economic decline.

This country has not fulfilled any of the 17 recommendations from the Council of Europe’s corruption prevention task force. It will only contribute to the huge economic hole in the EU that is getting bigger and bigger. The first victims will be small and medium enterprises which will be discarded without hesitation. We should put an end to this euro because it is working against the people. I do not know if the Croatian people have been given a chance to say something about it, Jamet said.

She was joined in criticism by Croatian MEP Ladislav Ilcic (ECR), who said that Croatia’s governing coalition did not want to discuss this matter or put it to a referendum. He said that the adoption of the euro had not brought much good to the southern member states.

We have never used the advantages of our own currency because the only political goal of federalists of all colours is Croatia’s integration into a European super state, Ilcic said.

Croatian MEP Karlo Ressler (EPP) responded by saying that the Croatian currency, the kuna, was not an end in itself but a tool to achieve a better quality of life for Croatian families. If we can ensure this with the euro, then I do not see any reason why not, he said.

Ressler recalled that economic and financial activities in Croatia were already being conducted in euro, as indicated by Muresan in his report, stressing that the Croatian economy was well-integrated into the euro area through trade, financial transactions and investment.

Croatian MEP Biljana Borzan (S&D) said that in times of crisis the power was in unity and integration, but that it should not be forgotten that the euro was not an end but a means for a better life for our citizens.

Croatia’s entry into the euro area was also strongly supported by Slovenian MEP Franc Bogovic (EPP), who expressed confidence that Croatia, as a tourism-oriented country, would benefit a lot from euro adoption. If you ask the citizens of Slovenia what the best thing is from the EU, they will probably say the euro, he said.

Bogovic, former head of the municipality of Krsko which borders on Croatia, told Hina that for people in border areas it would certainly be important that they would not have to change the currency. With the euro and Schengen regime, we are getting accustomed to living in the EU as if we were living in one country, he noted.

The Slovenian MEP shares the view of his party colleagues that the credit for the success of the euro area accession process goes to the Plenkovic government and the prime minister’s connections and reputation in the EPP.

The European Parliament is due to vote on the report on Croatia’s accession to the euro area on Tuesday.

The last step is the adoption of three legislative proposals on Croatia’s accession, which will happen at a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council on 12 July.

Croatia is set to become the 20th member of the euro area on 1 January 2023. It will be the first euro area enlargement since 2015 when Lithuania joined the single currency area.