Euro adoption
On joining the EU, the Czech Republic undertook to adopt the single European currency – the euro. The main principles of euro adoption are described in The Czech Republic’s Euro-area Accession Strategy (pdf, 47 kB). In line with this strategy, the Government and the CNB regularly assess whether the Czech Republic is ready for euro adoption. The conclusions of this assessment are summarised in the Assessment of the Fulfilment of the Maastricht Convergence Criteria and the Degree of Economic Alignment of the Czech Republic with the Euro Area. In this context, the CNB performs detailed analyses once a year, which it publishes in the Analyses of the Czech Republic’s Current Economic Alignment with the Euro Area.
Assessment and Alignment Analyses
In the joint Assessment (pdf, 1.3 MB) document prepared in December 2023, the Ministry of Finance and the CNB recommended that the Czech government should not set a target date for euro area entry for the time being. In 2023, the Czech Republic was compliant with only two of the four required Maastricht convergence criteria. No substantial progress has been made as regards the Czech Republic’s economic preparedness for euro adoption, and thus the unfinished process of economic convergence remains a factor arguing against early euro adoption. Czech public finance sustainability also remains unresolved. By contrast, the high degree of openness of the Czech economy and its close trade and ownership links with the euro area are arguments for adopting the euro. The institutions and rules of the euro area have changed over recent years, and discussions on further deepening integration are still ongoing. The future potential financial and non-financial commitments relating to the Czech Republic’s entry into the euro area thus cannot be reliably estimated at the moment.
In addition to the traditional analyses, Alignment Analyses 2023 (1.7 MB) contain five thematic chapters. The first examines in more detail the current institutional developments in the euro area and the European Union. The second investigates the impacts of changes in the koruna exchange rate on the competitiveness of the Czech economy. The third thematic chapter deals with the euroisation of the Czech economy, specifically the currently increased euro financing of Czech corporations. The fourth chapter provides a more detailed view of the Czech labour market. The last thematic chapter describes the heterogeneity of inflation developments across euro area countries in recent years.
- Assessment – 2010 (pdf, 169 kB)
- Analyses of the alignment – 2010 (pdf, 1.2 MB)
- Assessment – 2009 (pdf, 123 kB)
- Analyses of the alignment – 2009 (pdf, 1.2 MB)
- Assessment – 2008 (pdf, 287 kB)
- Analyses of the alignment – 2008 (pdf, 1.0 MB)
- Assessment – 2007 (pdf, 182 kB)
- Analyses of the alignment – 2007 (pdf, 839 kB)
- Assessment – 2006 (pdf, 278 kB)
- Analyses of the alignment – 2006 (pdf, 650 kB)
- Assessment – November 2005 (pdf, 156 kB)
- Assessment – January 2005 (pdf, 93 kB)
- Analyses of the alignment – 2005 (pdf, 603 kB)