ZAGREB, 16 June 2022 - The Eurogroup, a body that brings together the finance ministers of the euro area member states, on Thursday made a positive recommendation for Croatia's accession to the euro area on 1 January 2023.

"I am very pleased to announce that the Eurogroup agreed today that Croatia fulfils all the necessary conditions to adopt the euro. This is a crucial step on Croatia’s path to become the 20th member of our euro area and a strong signal for European integration," Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe said.

"I want to pay particular tribute to the Croatian government for its commitment and hard work to achieve this result over the past few years, in particularly challenging circumstances," he added.

The recommendation was sent to the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), which consists of the finance ministers of the 27 EU member states.

ECOFIN is expected to adopt the Eurogroup's recommendation and endorse a letter from the ECOFIN president to the European Council at its meeting in Luxembourg on Friday. The European Council is due to discuss the matter at its meeting on 23-24 June.

The process will conclude with the adoption by the Council, after it has consulted the European Parliament and the European Central Bank, of three legal acts that are necessary to enable Croatia to introduce the euro on 1 January 2023. The adoption of these acts is expected to take place on 12 July.

The finance ministers share the opinion of the Commission and the European Central Bank that Croatia is legally compatible and compliant with all the convergence criteria and consider that Croatia meets the necessary criteria for euro adoption, according to the draft letter which will be sent to the summit of EU leaders.

The draft letter notes that it is important that, after entering the euro area, Croatia should continue to meet the obligations undertaken two years ago when entering the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II).

Croatia is invited to implement further structural reforms and investments under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and pursue a sound fiscal policy.

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