Brussels, 01/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 1 July, Croatia's central bank, Hrvatska Narodna Banka, joins the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and its governor has joined the ECB General Council, the ECB has indicated in a press release.
Hrvatska Narodna Banka experts are now full members of the ESCB committees. Since the signing of Croatia's accession treaty in December 2011, Hrvatska Narodna Banka governor and experts have been observers at the meetings of the ECB General Council and ECBS committees.
Croatia will not join the euro immediately, but will join when it has met the criteria laid down in the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. Unlike Denmark and the United Kingdom, Croatia has not been granted an opt-out from the single currency.
Every two years, or upon request from a country that has not yet joined the euro, the ECB and the European Commission each draw up a report on monetary convergence, which the Council of the EU uses to decide whether the member state in question has met the criteria for joining the euro. (MB/transl.fl)