Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-01-13-Speech-2-305"
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"en.20090113.28.2-305"2
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"As you know, Slovakia joined the euro zone on 1 January this year, so we now have 16 of the 27 EU Member States participating fully in the EMU and sharing the same currency. Who will be the next? It is not up to the Commission to answer that question. It is up to the candidates who wish to join the euro area to apply. At the present time we know which EU Member States would like to join the euro area as soon as possible but unfortunately do not fulfil all the criteria required by the Treaty – the Baltic states, Hungary and others – and we know that there are two EU Member States, namely the UK and Denmark, that got an opt-out so that they can be excluded from the responsibility of all EU Member States to prepare themselves and their economies to join the euro area one day.
I do not know who will be the first to join the euro area after Slovakia. It could perhaps be one of the two Member States with an opt-out. It is possible that in the coming months Denmark, for instance, might decide to no longer have an opt-out and to apply to join the euro area. In fact, Denmark fulfils all the criteria to join the euro area according to the Treaty, but it is up to the Danish authorities, the Danish Parliament and maybe the Danish citizens in a referendum, to decide.
This morning we were commemorating here the 10th anniversary of the euro. I am sure that in the next 10 years all – or almost all – the EU Member States will join the euro area because, in these times of crisis during this difficult economic period, the advantages of being a member of the euro area have increased a great deal. Those who have not yet joined the euro area realise that the advantages are much bigger and much more important than the responsibilities they must bear as members of the euro area, or the difficulties.
Regarding your remarks, if I were in your position I would not argue against the euro area in terms of interest rates. Ask Denmark what has happened with their interest rates during this period of crisis. Denmark is a non-euro-area member whose currency is linked with the euro and whose Central Bank closely follows the decisions of the European Central Bank. The markets are not rewarding those who are not in the euro. They are putting higher risk premiums on them."@en1
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