The Future of the Economic and Monetary Union Ffrom the Perspective of the Czech Republic

When the Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004, it was widely believed that it would adopt the euro as soon as it met the Maastricht convergence criteria. More than 20 years later, the Czech Republic is still not a member of the eurozone, despite having met the Maastricht criteria in the past. At the same time, the Czech population has shown the strongest opposition to euro among the noneurozone countries. Over the years, the position of the Czech National Bank has remained unchanged – the governance of the eurozone is an unfinished project. As the future obligations of its members are not clear, euro cannot reasonably be adopted. The position of the Government has shifted from mild support to outright opposition. In this argument, we will discuss and evaluate the reasons put forward against the adoption of the euro, concluding that whether the euro is adopted will ultimately be
a political, not a legal or economic decision. 

Keywords: Czech Republic, Economic and Monetary Union, Euro, Eurozone