Croatia and the euro

[4] This had to be at least two years after Croatia joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), in addition to it meeting other criteria.

[44] While keen on euro adoption, one month before Croatia's EU entry, governor Vujčić stated "...we have no date (to join the single currency) in mind at the moment".

[4] The European Central Bank (ECB) was expecting Croatia to be approved for ERM II membership in 2016 at the earliest, with euro adoption in 2019.

[47] In November 2017, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that Croatia aimed to join ERM II by 2020 and to introduce the euro initially by 2025.

[49] A letter of intent of joining the ERM II mechanism was sent on 5 July 2019 to the ECB, signed by Minister of Finance Zdravko Marić, and the governor of the Croatian National Bank Boris Vujčić.

[6][54] In June 2021, on the occasion of 30 years of independence, Prime Minister Plenković said the government's ambition was to join the eurozone on the target date.

[56] In September 2021, following the meeting of the Eurogroup in Slovenia, Croatia signed an official agreement (a Memorandum of Understanding) with the European Commission and eurozone member states on practical steps for the actual minting of Croatian euro coins.

[58][59] In November 2021, the Croatian right-wing and eurosceptic party Hrvatski Suverenisti was unable to obtain the required number of signatures to force a referendum to block the planned adoption of the euro.

[60] On 10 December 2021, Finance Minister Marić announced that the bill on introducing the euro currency in Croatia was being drafted and could be outlined in mid-January, with its final adoption expected in April 2022.

[61] On 14 December 2021, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković stated that he expected to have a final decision from the EU on Croatia's accession to the Schengen and euro areas in 2022.

[62] In January 2022, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced that from 5 September, prices would be displayed in both kunas and euros in the country, and through the whole of 2023.

In 2023, everyone would be able to exchange kunas for euros free of charge in banks, in the Croatian Post offices, and in financial services and payment systems branches.

[66] The official decision for euro adoption is made by the EU's ECOFIN council and could not occur prior to 10 July 2022, two years after Croatia joined the ERM II.

[74][75] A contest was held by the Croatian National Bank for the designs, and was completed in 2022, receiving some negative reaction from Serbia and also being delayed by a licensing issue.

[84] By the end of 2023, the Ministry of Finance estimated a saving of around 160 million EUR for the economy based on the increase in credit rating, a reduction in currency risk and removal of transaction fees.

Eurozone participation
European Union member states
( special territories not shown)
20 in the eurozone
1 in ERM II , without an opt-out ( Bulgaria )
1 in ERM II, with an opt-out ( Denmark )
5 not in ERM II, but obliged to join the eurozone on meeting the convergence criteria ( Czech Republic , Hungary , Poland , Romania , and Sweden )
Non–EU member states
4 using the euro with a monetary agreement ( Andorra , Monaco , San Marino , and Vatican City )
2 using the euro unilaterally ( Kosovo and Montenegro )
I always quote the Bob Dylan song ' When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose '. If you don't have independent monetary policy what are you going to lose by entering into the monetary union? — Boris Vujčić , Governor of the Croatian National Bank , makes an analogy about Croatia's long-held euro-focused monetary policy. [ 40 ]
Croatian euro starter kit
Zagreb tram with promotion for euro area conversion which states "The euro is our money from 1 January 2023" ( euro - naš novac od 1. siječnja 2023 ).