2023
Latest Eurozone Enlargement
Croatia joined the Monetary Union on January 1st, 2023, following its entry into the European Union on July 1st, 2013, thus becoming the 20th member state of the European Union (EU) to adopt the euro. Seven EU member states are therefore not part of the eurozone (Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, and Sweden).
According to European Treaties, member states adopt the euro once they meet the entry criteria for the Monetary Union (with the exception of Denmark, which has an opt-out clause). These criteria, regularly evaluated by the European Commission and the European Central Bank, aim to ensure a high and sustainable degree of economic convergence. Other conditions, particularly legal ones, must also be met.
The euro was introduced on January 1st, 1999, in 11 EU member states (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Portugal), joined by Greece on January 1st, 2001, Slovenia in 2007, Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014, Lithuania in 2015, and finally Croatia in 2023.