30/10/2017 (Agence Europe) – At a conference on the euro in Zagreb on Monday 30 October, the Croatian Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, argued that the euro would place the country central to European integration. “In that way, Croatia will become even more attractive to tourists and investors from the euro area, as a result of which we will increase our competitiveness”, he said, the news agency HINA reports. He said that between 2004 and 2016, prices rose by 31% in Croatia and 23% in the Eurozone, whilst salaries grew more quickly in the central Eastern European countries with the single currency than in Croatia. “That's why the slogan, which leads to the wrong conclusion that we will get European prices and the Croatian wages, does not hold water”, he said. In December, the Commission will present a voluntary euro pre-accession instrument. (MB)