Croatia is set to become a member of both the Eurozone and Schengen on the 1st of January 2023.
This follows a major endorsement from the European Parliament on Thursday 10 November, when out of 612 parliamentarians, 534 voted in favour of the decision of the EU council to permit Croatia’s entry into the Schengen zone.
By entering the Eurozone and Schengen, Croatia expects to be able to further deepen its integration into the bloc and expand trade and business with European Union markets.
An article in Total Croatia News quoted Economist Damir Novotny as having predicted that these changes will lead to a “positive shock for the economy”. Novotny stated that the introduction of the Euro is not solely a change of currency, but also an “entry into a new institutional framework that gives investors a clear signal that we’re now part of a unique [economic] space”.
The final confirmation of this timeline is expected to take place on December 9 2022 when the current 22 EU member states that make up Schengen will meet.
There have been some criticisms of Croatia during the process, particularly relating to the mistreatment of migrants on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, reports suggest that although there was some concern about this issue the Schengen accession process was never affected by it in a major way.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check out the EuroNews247 website for all your up-to-date European news stories.
