Slovakia live - news from the heart of Europe

OK. This post fits into a new category that I am just creating: national matters. From time to time, when there will be something truly worth mentioning, I’ll put it into this category. And since joining the “Euro club” is going to influence every single person in our small country (except the little kids maybe), here are a few lines about it:

Ten years after The European Union leaders made their historic decision to launch the single European currency (EURO), The European Commission said “yes” for Slovakia to become the 16th EU member of the eurozone.

On May 7, the European Commission, after releasing its regular Convergence Report on Euro Readiness, said that Slovakia meets the criteria for adopting the euro and made a proposal to the EU Council to this effect, according to an official media release. The report found that nine other countries aspiring to adopt the euro were making progress but said they did not yet meet all the conditions for euro adoption.

EU Council finance ministers will make the final decision on Slovakia’s adoption of the euro in July, after the European Parliament has given its opinion and EU leaders have discussed the country’s accession to the eurozone at their June summit, the EC wrote.

“Slovakia has achieved a high degree of sustainable economic convergence and is ready to adopt the euro on 1 January 2009,” said Joaquín Almunia, the EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, on May 7. “However, to ensure that the adoption of the euro is a success, Slovakia must pursue its efforts to maintain a low-inflation environment, be more ambitious with regard to budgetary consolidation and strengthen its competitiveness position.” (www.slovakspectator.sk, 12 May 2008)

So, what does this decision about the EURO mean practically for the Slovak people?. It means that from January 2009 they will not be using Slovak Crowns as their national currency, but EUROs instead. That is, they will be using the same currency as people in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc. While traveling across Europe they won’t need to exchange their currency in a Bank because the currency will be the same. The Businesses will not be influenced by the Euro/Crowns exchange rate fluctuation, because all their business with most European countries will be in the same currency (that is the EURO).

There are debates being held whether it will have more advantages or disadvantages for Slovakia’s Economy. There are many of those who doubt the advantages, but only the future will show whether our country’s decision was right.

Until then let’s use whatever we received from God in a Godly way, whether it is Crowns or Euros, showing generosity and concern for those who are in need, so that God’s love can be revealed across all the countries in the World!