One single charger for frequently used small and medium-sized portable electronic devices
Charging speed harmonised for devices that support fast charging
Buyers can choose whether to purchase new device with or without charging device

By autumn 2024, USB Type-C will become the common charging port for all mobile phones, tablets and cameras in the EU, Parliament and Council negotiators agreed today.
The provisional agreement on the amended Radio Equipment Directive, establishes a single charging solution for certain electronic devices. This law is a part of a broader EU effort to make products in the EU more sustainable, to reduce electronic waste, and make consumers’ lives easier.
Under the new rules, consumers will no longer need a different charging device and cable every time they purchase a new device, and can use one single charger for all of their small and medium-sized portable electronic devices. Mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, earbuds, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers that are rechargeable via a wired cable will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C port, regardless of their manufacturer. Laptops will also have to be adapted to the requirements by 40 months after the entry into force.
The charging speed is also harmonised for devices that support fast charging, allowing users to charge their devices at the same speed with any compatible charger.
Better information and choice for consumers
Consumers will be provided with clear information on the charging characteristics of new devices, making it easier for them to see whether their existing chargers are compatible. Buyers will also be able to choose whether they want to purchase new electronic equipment with or without a charging device.
These new obligations will lead to more re-use of chargers and will help consumers save up to 250 million euro a year on unnecessary charger purchases. Disposed of and unused chargers are estimated to represent about 11,000 tonnes of e-waste annually.
Encouraging technological innovation
As wireless charging technology becomes more prevalent, the European Commission will be empowered to develop so-called delegated acts, on the interoperability of charging solutions.
Quote
Parliament’s rapporteur Alex Agius Saliba (S&D, MT) said: “Today we have made the common charger a reality in Europe! European consumers were frustrated long with multiple chargers piling up with every new device. Now they will be able to use a single charger for all their portable electronics. We are proud that laptops, e-readers, earbuds, keyboards, computer mice, and portable navigation devices are also included in addition to smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers. We have also added provisions on wireless charging being the next evolution in the charging technology and improved information and labelling for consumers”.
Press conference
On Tuesday, 7 June, from 12.30 CEST, Parliament’s rapporteur Alex Agius Saliba (S&D, MT) and Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton will give a joint press conference in the European Parliament’s press conference room in Strasbourg.
More details on how to follow are available in this media advisory.
Watch the recording of the press conference here.
Next steps
After the summer recess, Parliament and Council will have to formally approve the agreement before it is published in the EU Official Journal. It will enter into force 20 days after publication and its provisions will start to apply after 24 months. The new rules would not apply to products placed on the market before the date of application.
Background
In the past decade, Parliament has been continuously calling on the Commission to table a proposal on a common charger solution. The legislative proposal was tabled on 23 September 2021.
Compliments of the European Parliament.
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The world may gain an estimated $78 trillion over coming decades by making this energy transition.
International negotiators can’t agree on how to phase out coal, in part because of opposition to carbon taxes, and now even countries that had been able to abandon the fuel are reversing that progress as the war in Ukraine raises energy prices.
The most common concern about scrapping coal is that replacing it with renewable energy would be too expensive, but we show in new research that the economic benefits would far outweigh the costs.
We analyze this great carbon arbitrage, as we call it, in a recent working paper that calculates the cost of replacing coal with renewables, as well as the social benefits of this important transition. The benefits from ending coal use come from avoiding damage from climate change and harm to people’s health. Our estimate is that by doing so the world would yield a net gain of nearly $78 trillion through the end of this century. That’s around four-fifths of global gross domestic product now, and would be equivalent to about 1.2 percent of annual global economic output during the period.

‘It’s sound economic logic to pay for the replacement of coal with renewables to reap a net social gain measuring in the tens of trillions of dollars.’

To determine both the size of the avoided emissions, as well as any potential losses from their prevention, we use a detailed dataset compiled by Asset Resolution on companies’ historical and projected global coal production based on the aggregation of production at the plant level.
The cost estimate for adopting renewable sources includes capital spending for new energy generation capacity equal to what’s lost with coal, plus compensation to coal companies for lost earnings when they are shut down. The cost estimate does not include compensation for affected workers, but this is likely to be small relative to the overall net gains from the transition. Additional compensation to make the switch to renewables feasible could be offered as long as the social benefits of phasing out coal exceed the more comprehensive set of costs.
Carbon price
We calculate the value of doing so by estimating the reduction in emissions from phasing out coal, and by applying a carbon price to those discharges. This in turn lets us estimate the economic gain from the transition. The difference between the value of the social benefits versus costs of replacement and compensation for missed coal revenues forms our baseline estimate of world’s net gain from finally ending our reliance on the fuel.
While our conservative estimate comes with an unavoidable uncertainty, given the decades-long timeframe, the enormous social benefits from what could be thought of as an inexpensive insurance policy are clear: paying a premium offers coverage for significant potential damages.
So sizeable are the potential gains that world leaders should pursue a global agreement to finance the phase-out of coal as a complement to carbon pricing or equivalent measures that currently don’t fully offset the negative effects of the emissions. We have chosen all our parameters, including the social cost of carbon, in a conservative way. The carbon arbitrage could in fact be bigger still for less conservative estimates.
Our research shows that ending coal use shouldn’t be seen as too costly because it provides economic benefits from reduced carbon emissions, such as avoiding physical damage to infrastructure caused by climate change. Investments in renewable energy also support economic growth and offer additional attendant benefits from innovation.
Significant benefits
The analysis shows that phasing out coal isn’t just urgent because it would help limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Importantly, the economic and health benefits are significant enough that we should push harder for global agreements that unleash the potential power of capital markets.
The bottom line for policy is that if compensation was built into an agreement to scrap coal, and if innovative financing packages could incentivize advanced, emerging and developing economies alike to end the fuel’s use, the net social gains from such an agreement would be enormous.
To better understand just how large the payments would need to be, we broke down the costs for different regions. The present value of total financing that’s conditional on commitments to scrap coal is around $29 trillion globally, in line with what other studies estimate. That works out to between $500 billion and $2 trillion annually, with a front-loaded $3 trillion investment this decade. Of the global financing need of around $29 trillion, we estimate that 46 percent is in Asia, 18 percent in Europe, 13 percent in North America, 13 percent in Australia and New Zealand, 8 percent in Africa, and 2 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It’s a major funding challenge. But despite arguments that no government can afford such investments and that the private sector should steer its funding to renewable energy, most of the backing can indeed come from the private sector, once risks are reduced by sufficient public funds via so called blended finance, which could mean public funding of around 10 percent.
Broadly speaking, it’s in the interest of a government to finance 10 percent of its country’s total costs to replace coal with renewables if this amount is less than its resulting social benefits in terms of lower climate damages. A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests this holds true for nearly all countries. Considerations of fairness, a country’s fiscal position, or both, may in certain cases call for foreign contributions to finance 10 percent of a country’s costs to phase out coal.
Energy transition
We view global carbon taxation at the social cost of carbon as a first-best solution. Public-private partnerships to finance the replacement of coal with renewables could accelerate the green transition and complement incomplete carbon pricing by helping to achieve the Paris Agreement’s aim of making finance flows consistent with a pathway toward low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.
For their part, economists have two different approaches to what the profession calls internalizing negative externalities. That loosely translates as making companies pay more of the costs imposed by some harmful result of their activity, such as pollution. One, associated with Arthur C. Pigou, uses taxation or some other pricing to fully reflect the social cost of an economic activity. The other, linked to Ronald H. Coase, seeks an efficient social outcome through bargaining and contracting. Clearly, both approaches are needed for a global strategy to combat climate change.
Our research concludes that, under the kind of approach Coase pioneered, it’s sound economic logic to pay for the replacement of coal with renewables to reap a net social gain measuring in the tens of trillions of dollars.
Phasing out coal is not only a matter of urgency for the planet. It also makes economic sense because, as we show, the social gains far outweigh the costs of climate financing to end coal.
Compliments of the IMF.
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The amount of plastic waste produced globally is on track to almost triple by 2060, with around half ending up in landfill and less than a fifth recycled, according to a new OECD report.
Global Plastics Outlook: Policy Scenarios to 2060 says that without radical action to curb demand, increase product lifespans and improve waste management and recyclability, plastic pollution will rise in tandem with an almost threefold increase in plastics use driven by rising populations and incomes. The report estimates that almost two-thirds of plastic waste in 2060 will be from short-lived items such as packaging, low-cost products and textiles.
“If we want a world that is free of plastic pollution, in line with the ambitions of the United Nations Environment Assembly, we will need to take much more stringent and globally co-ordinated action,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said. “This report proposes concrete policies that can be implemented along the lifecycle of plastics that could significantly curb – and even eliminate – plastic leakage into the environment.”

The report (available as a preliminary version ahead of its full publication later this year) projects global plastics consumption rising from 460 million tonnes (Mt) in 2019 to 1,231 Mt in 2060 in the absence of bold new policies, a faster rise than most raw materials. Growth will be fastest in developing and emerging countries in Africa and Asia, although OECD countries will still produce much more plastic waste per person (238 kg per year on average) in 2060 than non-OECD countries (77 kg).
Globally, plastic leakage to the environment is seen doubling to 44 Mt a year, while the build-up of plastics in lakes, rivers and oceans will more than triple, as plastic waste balloons from 353 Mt in 2019 to 1,014 Mt in 2060. Most pollution comes from larger debris known as macroplastics, but leakage of microplastics (synthetic polymers less than 5 mm in diameter) from items like industrial plastic pellets, textiles and tyre wear is also a serious concern.
The projected rise in plastics consumption and waste will come despite an expected increase in the use of recycled plastic in manufacturing new goods as well as technological advances and sectoral economic shifts that should mean an estimated 16% decrease by 2060 in the amount of plastic required to create USD 1 of economic output.
The share of plastic waste that is successfully recycled is projected to rise to 17% in 2060 from 9% in 2019, while incineration and landfilling will continue to account for around 20% and 50% of plastic waste respectively. The share of plastic that evades waste management systems – ending up instead in uncontrolled dumpsites, burned in open pits or leaking into the soil or aquatic environments – is projected to fall to 15% from 22%.
The new report builds on the OECD’s first Global Plastics Outlook: Economic Drivers, Environmental Impacts and Policy Options, released in February 2022. That first report found that plastic waste has doubled in two decades, with most ending up in landfill, incinerated or leaking into the environment. Since that report release, UN member states have pledged to negotiate a legally binding international agreement by 2024 to end plastic pollution.
Global Plastics Outlook: Policy Scenarios to 2060 looks at the impact of two potential scenarios. The first, a regional action scenario comprising a mix of fiscal and regulatory policies primarily in OECD countries could decrease plastic waste by almost a fifth and more than halve plastic leakage into the environment without a substantial impact on global GDP, which would be lower by 0.3% by 2060. The second, a global action scenario comprising more stringent policies implemented worldwide, could decrease plastic waste by a third and almost completely eliminate plastic leakage to the environment while lowering global GDP by an estimated 0.8%.
The report also looks at how actions to reduce greenhouse emissions could reduce plastic pollution given the interplay between the plastics lifecycle, fossil fuels and climate change.
Policies to reduce the environmental impacts of plastics and encourage a more circular use of them should include:

Taxes on plastics, including on plastic packaging
Incentives to reuse and repair plastic items
Targets for recycled content in new plastic products
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes
Improved waste management infrastructure
Increased litter collection rates

Read more about OECD work on plastics
Contact:

Catherine Bremer, the OECD Media Office | catherine.bremer@oecd.org

Compliments of the OECD.
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​​Tourism has been one of the sectors worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic: hotels, restaurants, airlines and travel agencies had to stop their activity almost completely during a long period and only now touristic activity is slowly recovering back to pre-2020 levels. However, the pandemic has also accelerated the transition to a more sustainable models of tourism. This was the topic of a conference organised by the CoR’s NAT Commission in Santiago de Compostela on 3 June. The host city is known for the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St James), which provides a perfect example of sustainable, low-impact tourism combining cultural heritage and bringing together people from across Europe.
The President of the Government of Galicia, Alfonso Rueda Valenzuela, noted that 100 000 pilgrims have already arrived in Santiago de Compostela this year, which means that the city is on the way to beat the record from 2019. “People want to travel again, discover new places and cultural heritage, but the pandemic has changed models of tourism towards destinations that are nearer and less massified”, he said.
While touristic activity has returned to pre-pandemic levels in many regions of Europe during spring 2022, Manuel Cardenete Flores (ES/Renew Europe), Regional Minister for Education and Sport in Andalusia, warned that the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis are posing new challenges to the sector. He underlined the importance of tourism to the economic growth – for example, in Andalusia it represents more than 13 percent of the GDP – and called for the European Union to consider tourism as one of its key policy areas.
This call was shared by the MEP Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar (PT/EPP) who recalled that the European Parliament has urged the European Commission to present a new strategy on sustainable tourism in Europe and to establish an EU Agency for Tourism. She insisted that the green and digital transition in the tourism sector should be supported through the National Recovery Plans and eventually by setting up a separate budget line.
At the same time, cities and regions across Europe are responding to the growing demand for more sustainable ways of travel: for example, the Veneto Region in Italy has recently inaugurated several new walking and cycling routes across the territory. The President of Veneto Region Roberto Ciambetti (IT/ECR) also referred to a study showing that 54% of tourists arriving in his region would accept to pay an extra price for a more ecologic-friendly accommodation.
“Sustainability must be the rule, not exception”, concluded the NAT Commission Chair Ulrika Landergren (SV/Renew Europe). ” The EU must develop a strategy that takes into account the tourism’s ecologic and social impact”, she added, regretting that unsustainable practices still exist: golf courses are watered in areas suffering from drought and some cruise ships continue dumping wastewater into oceans.
Compliments of the European Committee of the Regions.
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The European Commission and the US Commerce Department have agreed to strengthen coordination on the enforcement of export controls on Russia, building on the excellent cooperation under the US-EU Trade and Technology Council.
In a meeting in Brussels, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, US Ambassador to the European Union Mark Gitenstein and Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod, discussed export control enforcement with Bjoern Seibert, Head of Cabinet for the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Sabine Weyand, Director-General for Trade, and Gerassimos Thomas, Director-General for Taxation and Customs Union.
They agreed to exchange regularly on export enforcement implementation, expand information sharing on diversion networks, and support investigations.
Additional talks will take place next week in Brussels on how to take this initiative forward.
Compliments of the European Commission.
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Introductory statement by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the meeting of the Euro Accession Countries Working Group of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament | Brussels, 1 June 2022 |
Thank you for inviting me to discuss our latest ECB Convergence Report.[1]
As foreseen in the EU Treaties[2], we publish our Convergence Report at least once every two years. The report examines the progress made by non-euro area Member States[3] towards satisfying the necessary conditions for adopting the single currency. Specifically, it assesses whether a high degree of sustainable economic convergence has been achieved.[4] Moreover, it examines whether the national legislation is compatible with the EU Treaties (including our Statute[5]), and whether the statutory requirements are fulfilled for the relevant national central bank to become an integral part of the Eurosystem.
Our assessment is independent from the Commission’s assessment, which has just been presented to you by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis. I will now briefly discuss our conclusions on the state of economic and legal convergence. I will then focus on our assessment of Croatia.
The state of economic and legal convergence in non-euro area countries
Looking at the general picture first, let me highlight four points.
First, since our last Convergence Report in 2020, the seven Member States under review have made limited progress overall towards meeting the convergence criteria, with the notable exception of Croatia. This lack of progress is mainly due to challenging economic conditions. While the countries rebounded strongly from a longer than initially expected COVID-19 shock, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has darkened economic prospects.
Second, apart from Croatia, none of the other countries under review complies with all economic convergence criteria. In five of the seven Member States examined in the report, HICP inflation is well above the reference value. The long-term interest rate is above the reference value in two countries and well above it in one country. The situation has clearly deteriorated compared with 2020, when only one country was above the reference value. Furthermore, most countries have made no progress in reducing fiscal imbalances, which is not surprising given the COVID-19 pandemic and the fiscal measures adopted to mitigate its economic impact. As regards the exchange rate criterion, the Bulgarian lev and Croatian kuna were included in the exchange rate mechanism (ERM II), on 10 July 2020. Over the two-year reference period the Bulgarian lev did not exhibit any deviation from its central rate due to its currency board arrangement, while the Croatian kuna displayed a low degree of volatility and traded close to its central rate.[6]
Third, all countries, with the exception of Croatia, need to adjust their legal framework to comply with the requirements under Union law. They must address issues relating to central bank independence and the prohibition on monetary financing.
Moreover, let me reiterate what I said here in 2020 when I presented our previous ECB Convergence Report.[7]
In the interest of the euro area as a whole and of each euro area accession country, convergence has to be reached on a lasting basis, and not just at a given point in time. This requires ongoing attention, also through our economic governance mechanisms and sound financial sector supervision. In order to achieve a high level of sustainable convergence, our Convergence Report emphasises the need for lasting policy adjustments in many of the countries under review. Specifically, we emphasise that the Next Generation EU (NGEU) package represents a unique opportunity to accelerate the process of euro area convergence, with swift and effective implementation being crucial for its success.
The state of economic and legal convergence in Croatia
Let me now focus on Croatia, which is the only country that fulfils all economic and legal requirements for adopting the euro and has expressed the wish to do so on 1 January 2023.
With regard to price stability, the 12-month average rate of HICP inflation in Croatia was 4.7%, which is below the reference value of 4.9%. In terms of fiscal sustainability, Croatia’s general government budget balance was just below the 3% deficit reference value in 2021, while its debt ratio was above the 60% reference value but on a downward trajectory. Since the inclusion of the Croatian kuna in ERM II, its deviations from the agreed central rate have been significantly smaller than the standard fluctuation band of ERM II. Long-term interest rates stood at 0.8% on average and thus remained below the 2.6% reference value for the interest rate convergence criterion.
From a legal perspective, Croatian law is compatible with the Treaties and the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank. What is key is the amendment to the Law on Croatia’s central bank, which prohibits the Croatian Government from seeking to influence the members of its decision-making bodies.
With the entry into force of the close cooperation framework on 1 October 2020, the ECB gained responsibility for directly supervising eight significant institutions and for overseeing 15 less significant institutions in Croatia.[8] The convergence in banking supervision ensures the application of uniform supervisory standards and thus contributes to safeguarding financial stability.
Moreover, the agreement on Croatia’s participation in ERM II was based on several policy commitments which I discussed with you two years ago.[9]
Although the anti-money laundering (AML) commitments have been fulfilled formally, there are still several shortcomings in this respect which must be addressed, as identified in the recent MONEYVAL report.[10] This is also key from a prudential perspective. We therefore urge the Croatian Government to deliver on its commitment to fully implement a new AML action plan by 2023, when the first year of MONEYVAL’s enhanced follow-up procedure ends.
Finally, our assessment stresses that, in view of the subdued growth potential, it is crucial to strengthen Croatia’s institutional capacity to ensure effective and efficient implementation of the structural reforms that can lift its growth path.
Conclusion
Let me conclude.
The convergence assessments by the Commission and the ECB are paving the way for another euro area enlargement. Two decades after the introduction of the single currency, euro area membership remains an attractive prospect.
The euro area is facing challenges on many fronts which are mainly of a global nature, like the Russian invasion of Ukraine and persistent supply chain disruptions. But the size of our Economic and Monetary Union gives us the economic firepower and policy autonomy to respond to these adverse external shocks. And the euro buttresses our supply chains, increasing their resilience. Supply chain integration in Europe is better than in any other continent, and continues to increase.[11]
We appreciate that countries make every effort to prepare themselves for adopting the euro. And they do so under challenging economic conditions. I am convinced that the recent EU initiatives such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the REPowerEU Plan will help our economies stay on the path towards reforms and investment.
Croatia’s progress demonstrates its commitment to adopting the euro. Most importantly, it is another step towards economic and monetary integration in Europe. It further underpins our collective economic strength and our sovereignty.
Footnotes:

1. ECB Convergence Report 2022
2. Article 140 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
3. Denmark has notified the Council of the European Union (EU Council) of its intention not to participate in stage three of Economic and Monetary Union. Convergence reports have therefore only been prepared for Denmark if the country requests them. In the absence of such a request, the ECB’s 2022 Convergence Report examines the following countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
4. To examine the state of economic convergence in EU Member States seeking to adopt the euro, the ECB makes use of a common framework for analysis. This common framework, which has been applied in a consistent manner throughout all European Monetary Institute (EMI) and ECB Convergence Reports, is based, first, on the Treaty provisions and their application by the ECB with regard to developments in prices, fiscal balances and debt ratios, exchange rates and long-term interest rates, as well as in other factors relevant to economic integration and convergence. Second, it is based on a range of additional backward and forward-looking economic indicators considered to be useful for examining the sustainability of convergence in greater detail.
5. Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank.
6. The reference period considered in the ECB’s 2022 Convergence Report is from 26 May 2020 to 25 May 2022.
7. Panetta, F. (2020), “Pursuing a successful path towards euro area accession”, introductory remarks at a meeting of the Euro Accession Countries Working Group of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, 13 July.
8. For more details on the ECB’s close cooperation with Hrvatska narodna banka, see ECB (2020), “ECB establishes close cooperation with Croatia’s central bank”, press release, 10 July.
9. See Panetta, F. (op. cit.).
10. Council of Europe (2021), Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures – Croatia, December.
11. Panetta, F. (2022), “Europe’s shared destiny, economics and the law”, Lectio Magistralis on the occasion of the conferral of an honorary degree in Law by the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, 6 April.
Compliments of the European Central Bank.

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Today, the European Commission has concluded that Croatia is ready to adopt the euro on 1 January 2023, bringing the number of euro area Member States to twenty.
The conclusion is set out in the 2022 Convergence Report, which assesses the progress that Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden have made towards joining the euro area. These are the seven non-euro area Member States that are legally committed to adopting the euro. The Report concludes that:

Only Croatia and Sweden meet the price stability criterion.
All Member States fulfil the criterion on public finances, except Romania which is the only Member State subject to an excessive deficit procedure.
Bulgaria and Croatia are the two Member States fulfilling the exchange rate criterion.
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia and Sweden fulfil the long-term interest rate criterion.

The Report finds that Croatia fulfils the four nominal convergence criteria and its legislation is fully compatible with the requirements of the Treaty and the Statute of the European System of Central Banks/ECB.
The Commission’s assessment is complemented by the European Central Bank’s (ECB) own Convergence Report, which has also been published today.
Croatia’s adoption of the euro
In light of the Commission’s assessment, and taking into account the additional factors relevant for economic integration and convergence, including balance of payments developments and integration of product, labour and financial markets, the Commission considers that Croatia fulfils the conditions for the adoption of the euro. It has therefore also adopted proposals for a Council Decision and a Council Regulation on euro introduction in Croatia.
The Council will make the final decisions on Croatia’s euro adoption in the first half of July, after discussions in the Eurogroup and in the European Council, and after the European Parliament and the ECB have given their opinions.
The Report, therefore, marks a crucial and historic step on Croatia’s journey towards adopting the euro.
Overall assessment of preparedness
In all of the non-euro area Member States examined except Croatia, the Report also finds that national legislation in the monetary field is not fully compatible with EMU legislation and with the Statute of the European System of Central Banks/ECB.
The Commission also examined additional factors referred to in the Treaty that should be taken into account in the assessment of the sustainability of convergence. This analysis shows that the Member States examined are generally well integrated economically and financially in the EU. However, some of them still experience macroeconomic vulnerabilities and/or face challenges related to their business environment and institutional framework which may pose risks as to the sustainability of the convergence process.
The effective implementation of the reforms and investments set out in their national recovery and resilience plans will address key macro-economic challenges. In the case of Hungary and Poland, the plans are currently being assessed by the Commission to make sure that all assessment criteria are being fulfilled.
Members of the College said:
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: “Today, Croatia has made a significant step towards adopting the euro, our common currency. Less than a decade after joining the EU, Croatia is now ready to join the euro area on 1 January. This will make Croatia’s economy stronger, bringing benefits to its citizens, businesses and society at large. Croatia’s adoption of the euro will also make the euro stronger. Twenty years after the introduction of the first banknotes, the euro has become one of the most powerful currencies in the world, improving the livelihoods of millions of citizens across the Union. The euro is a symbol of European strength and unity. Congratulations, Croatia!”
Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People, said: “Croatia has shown great commitment, diligence and perseverance in its efforts to meet the conditions for adopting the euro on January 1, 2023. Taking on Europe’s common currency as its own will mark the completion of Croatia’s integration into the European Union less than a decade after its EU accession. This is a great achievement. It will bring real benefits to Croatian people and businesses and make Croatia’s economy more resilient. It also shows that the euro remains an attractive and successful global currency. Our currency is a symbol of Europe’s strength, unity and solidarity at a time when these qualities are being tested by a war raging on our doorstep.”
Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for Economy, said: “Today marks a historic milestone on Croatia’s European journey, reflecting the determined efforts the Croatian authorities have made to meet the criteria for entry into the euro area. The Croatian people can now look forward to joining more than 340 million citizens already using the euro as their currency, a rock of stability in these turbulent times. And in the year in which we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the euro’s birth as a physical currency, the euro area as a whole can now look forward to welcoming its twentieth member.”
Background
The Convergence Report by the European Commission forms the basis for the Council of the EU’s decision on whether a Member State fulfils the conditions for joining the euro area.
The Convergence Report of the European Commission is separate to, but published in parallel with, the Convergence Report of the ECB.
Convergence reports are issued every two years, or when there is a specific request from a Member State to assess its readiness to join the euro area – for example, Latvia in 2013.
All Member States, except Denmark, are legally committed to join the euro area. Denmark, which negotiated an opt-out arrangement in the Maastricht Treaty, is therefore not covered by the Report.
While the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic recovery in 2021 had a very significant impact on the findings of the 2022 Convergence Report, the impact of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine which began in February 2022 on the historical data used to prepare the Report has been limited. The extent to which the economic convergence indicators are affected by the crisis triggered by Russia’s military agression as well as by other ongoing economic developments is fully captured in the economic projections for 2022 and 2023, which the Commission published on 16 May 2022 (Commission Spring 2022 Economic Forecast) and which are used to assess the sustainability of convergence.
Compliments of the European Commission.
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