The European Commission announced that six EU countries are not ready to adopt the euro

Six European Union member states that currently use their own national currencies and are legally required to join the eurozone do not yet meet all the mandatory economic and legal criteria. 

This is stated in the European Commission’s latest biennial report. The list of countries that still retain their own currencies includes Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and the Czech Republic, while Denmark has an official opt-out from the euro. 

Experts note that for many governments, failure to meet the conditions is a deliberate move driven by domestic political considerations. In particular, Sweden and the Czech Republic fully meet the financial criteria, but the governments of these countries categorically refuse to amend their central bank legislation and to include their currencies in the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM2) for two years. Meanwhile, Romania is striving for European integration but has excessively high inflation and a significant budget deficit, while Poland, due to its political stance, is in no hurry to adapt its economy to the European Central Bank’s requirements.

Reuters reports on this.

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