The state of public opinion on the euro in the new Member States. Flash Eurobarometer 183

The European Commission requested this third Eurobarometer survey in the recently acceded Member States on public attitudes to and knowledge of the introduction of the euro. It was conducted by Gallup Europe in April 2006. The previous two surveys had been carried out in September 2004 and 2005.

Despite a widespread belief to the contrary among their citizens, the New Member States of the
European Union have the obligation to adopt the common currency, the euro, once they have fulfilled
the economic stability criteria defined in the Maastricht Treaty.

There is no common strategy or fixed timetable with regard to the introduction of the euro in each of
the newly acceded member states. At present, seven New Member States have joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta), while the three largest countries - Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary - still remain outside of the common exchange rate mechanism (a country must have been a member of the ERM II for a minimum of two years before adopting the euro).

The New Member States are committed to adopt the euro as part of their accession to the EU. At
present they are working to meet the economic entry criteria on government deficit and debt, inflation, interest rates and exchange rate stability. They are all expected to join the euro area in due time. There has been a lot of discussion in Member States and in European bodies about whether or not adherence to the nominal convergence criteria laid out in the Maastricht Treaty – thus, a “too early” adoption of the euro – is useful for the New Member States. Some national governments see a conflict between the “Maastricht criteria” and what they call real convergence needs (e.g., catching up with the per capita national income, wages, public services). Internal debates in some countries have even led to speculation about possible referenda occurring with regard to joining the euro-zone, which would effectively be a second referendum on membership itself.

Concerning the introduction of the euro in the new EU countries, the European Commission is keeping track of general opinion, of levels of knowledge and information and familiarity with the single currency of citizens of the New Member States.

The main themes in the report are the following:

− levels of knowledge and experience of the euro among citizens of the New Member States

− feelings as regards being informed - and the most favoured channels of information

− perceptions of the single currency

− expectations and fears concerning the adoptation of the euro

European Commission: COM (2006)322: Third report on the practical preparations for the future enlargement of the euro area http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/euro_related/2006/comm2006_322final_en.pdf

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