Press Release - AmCham's Power Breakfast “Croatia's Accession to the Eurozone”

The importance of empowering communication between the business community and institutions

The American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia (AmCham) organized a business breakfast “Croatia's Accession to the Eurozone” where institutional actors of the process of replacing HRK with EUR presented the most important information to the representatives of the business community.

“When it comes to the economy, adopting the euro as the official currency in Croatia is definitely one of the most important topics of 2022. The business community – as consumers, representatives of businesses and citizens of Croatia – shows extensive interest for the topic of the adoption of the euro and the series of changes we will face during that process. We believe that our economy and our society, already highly adapted to euro, will successfully bring the process of adopting the euro to an end,” pointed out Andrea Doko Jelušić, Executive Director at AmCham.

“All activities related to the process of implementing the National Euro Changeover Plan and meeting the convergence criteria to enter the euro area are conducted in accordance with our goal to be ready to adopt the euro on January 1st, 2023. Until then, we will use our opportunities to present key changes and novelties to the interested public and the business community, as well as inform them on the numerous benefits that adopting the euro will bring to Croatian economy and society after the country becomes the twentieth Member State in the euro area,” stated Zvonimir Savić, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on economic affairs.

Ana Zorić, Director of the Directorate for Economy and Financial System at the Ministry of Finance, added that the adoption of the euro calls for serious and professional adjustment of Croatia’s legal framework with the aim of ensuring legal safety and creating terms for uninterrupted, continuous and effective functioning of the economy. The law on the adoption of the Euro defines, alongside the basic principles, detailed activities that are to be conducted after the Council of the EU reaches a decision that the country fulfills all prerequisites of entering the euro area. The Council’s terms keep the process within default frameworks and minimize all uncertainties.

The Head Coordinator at the Coordination Committee for the Adjustment of the Economy and Consumer Protection and State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Nataša Mikuš Žigman, pointed out that the Committee issued a document titled Guidelines for adjusting the economy in the process of replacing the Croatian kuna with the euro in order to timely inform economists on the necessary preparations prior to the adoption of the euro as the national currency. She explained that the document is based on extensive consultation sessions with associations of business subjects and individual companies and that it contains detailed information on the inevitable preparations, on the timeframe of the adoption, and refers to the challenges that might occur during the implementation of the planned measures. Apart from that, she highlighted that the document does not represent an official interpretation of legal terms and that it is subject to changes once the law on the adoption of the euro as the official currency in Croatia is put in force.

Back in 2019, 91% of subjects in AmCham’s Survey of the Business Environment in Croatia reported that they believe the adoption of the euro in Croatia would have either a positive or a neutral impact on business. As previously stated, the fact that Croatian society and economy are highly adapted to the euro facilitates this complex process. Despite a series of preparatory actions at the institutions and published documents such as the National Strategy, the Guidelines and the law itself, preparations for the adoption of the euro pose many legal, logistic and administrative challenges to the business community. Therefore, it is essential that the communication between the business community and the institutions is maintained and empowered, concluded Andrea Doko Jelušić.