FINANCE Ministers of the Eurozone countries have welcomed the announcement that Croatia is to adopt the Euro as its currency possibly by 2023.

The first stage of Croatia’s entry into the Eurozone is that it must join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism – known as ERM-2 – and the Croatian Government gave formal notice of that move last week.

The bid by Croatia was discussed by the Eurozone ministers yesterday and they gave it a unanimous welcome.

Finance Minister Zdravko Maric and Governor of the Croatian National Bank (CNB/HNB) Boris Vujcic expressed their satisfaction at the welcome given to Croatia which has a population of 4.1 million and which joined the European Union in 2013 when it decided to keep its own currency, the Kuna, and move to the Eurozone at an appropriate time.

In its letter to the Eurozone, Croatia committed to prepare for the European Central Bank (ECB) to supervise its banking, and will apply “reforms on anti-money laundering rules and to making the public administration more effective and less costly”, according to an EU statement.

The ECB and the European Commission will monitor progress on these commitments in a process that should take a year, after which Croatia will join ERM-2 for or a minimum of two years.

Joining ERM-2 will put the ECB in charge of Croatia’s monetary and exchange-rate policy, with the aim of keeping Croatia’s kuna at a consistent value in euro terms. The ECB and the EU will also help the government prepare for adoption of the common currency.

Only then will Croatia take the practical steps to join the Eurozone, a process that takes roughly another year, making 2023 the earliest possible year for Croatia to gain full Euro membership. Bulgaria has also applied to join which would mean 21 countries in the zone. EU economics commissioner Pierre Moscovici said Croatia’s move was a “vote of confidence in the Euro”.

The National:

Senate seat proposed for Irish travellers

A CALL was made yesterday in Ireland’s Senate for the country’s Travelling and Roma community to be represented in both houses of the Irish legislature, the Oireachtas.

The Seanad Eireann (Senate) heard appeals from members of the travelling and Roma community and their supporters that the community should be represented in the Seanad and the Dail Eireann, the lower house and the principal chamber.

According to the Irish Examiner, Martin Collins of Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre (pictured above) said there were innovative ways to give a voice to indigenous ethnic groups.

He said: “We can look, for example, at having quotas of travellers in our national Parliament.

“We can look at the whole concept of reserved seats, which is a tried and trusted method of supporting the inclusion of indigenous groups right across Europe.

“When travellers look at our parliament, at both houses of the Oireachtas, we need to see our faces reflected in these parliaments. If that were to happen I think this would deconstruct this notion that our parliament is the sole reserve of the majority population.”

Pointing to Romania which has carried out these ideas, Collins added: “There can be no significant or sustainable change unless travellers and Roma themselves are empowered to fully participate and influence policy that creates positive change for our communities on the ground.”

PhD student and member of the community Patrick McDonagh said: “When you look at our political system, you do not see Irish travellers present.”

The National:

Finland wins race to get China centre

FINLAND has won the race to get an important China-Europe technology centre.

The Chinese and European centre for innovation has been officially launched in a former hospital building in Helsinki.

GBTimes has reported that the centre “will be a platform for the transformation and cooperation of Sino-Finnish scientific and technological achievements”.

Officially known Chinese-European Center for Technology and Innovation (CECTI), the new operation will work alongside a Finnish incubator company Maria 01. The aim is to build strong links between the new centre and the Shijingshan district of Beijing which is being developed as a fiannce and technology hub. At the launch attended by Chinese and Finnish officials. Chen Zhichang, deputy secretary of the Shijingshan District Committee of Beijing, warmly congratulated the establishment of the Helsinki branch in Finland, which has a population almost the same as Scotland at 5.5 million. He said that the message was that “Sino-Finnish cooperation was flourishing” and he hoped that the centre would play “a platform role in the transformation and cooperation of Sino-Finnish scientific and technological achievements”.

He also said the centre could be a model for Sino-Finnish economic and trade cooperation and technology.

In a statement hichang said the centre would “make greater contributions, accelerate the promotion of Finnish high-tech enterprises, high-end projects and high-tech talents in Beijing”.

He said it would also help to “introduce more high-quality resources for Shijingshan District, promote the economic development of Beijing and Shijingshan, and serve the regional economy of the capital”.