Macroeconomic Consequences of the Adoption of the Euro: The Case of Slovenia (Report‪)‬

Introduction 1 January 2007, Slovenia started to replace its currency, the Slovene tolar, by the common European currency euro. Slovenia was the first of the ten states joining the European Union (EU) in May 2004 to enter the Euro Area (cf. Hochreiter and Sitz 2004). All of the new EU member countries have been members of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) from the beginning of their membership in the EU, albeit with a derogation. Being EMU members does not imply that these countries may introduce the euro immediately. Before adopting the common currency, the new EU member states are required to fulfill the criteria set out in the Maastricht Treaty. In May 2006, the European Commission and the European Central Bank decided that Slovenia had fulfilled all relevant criteria.