ZAGREB, July 8, 2019 – Representatives of the Matica union federation criticised the government on Monday for not making its letter of intent and action plan for Croatia’s admission to the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) public.
“Unfortunately, the government is treating this issue with undemocratic inconsistency, and to make matters worse, state institutions and some media outlets are taking part in such conduct. Croatia’s general public is not faced with the truth, which is extremely concerning and alarming,” the leader of the trade union federation, Vilim Ribić, told a news conference in Zagreb.
This past Thursday, Croatia sent a letter to the euro area member states, Denmark and EU institutions, expressing its intent to enter ERM II, taking the first formal step towards participation in ERM II, which precedes the adoption of the euro as legal tender.
The letter expresses Croatia’s readiness to implement reforms as part of further preparations for participation in ERM II. By successfully participating in ERM II for at least two years, Croatia should formally meet the exchange rate criterion of nominal convergence. Croatia has been meeting the other criteria for a while, namely price stability, public finance sustainability and interest rate convergence, while the prudent monetary and fiscal policy should ensure that it stays that way.
Ribić today said that neither the letter nor the action plan were presented to the public, and members of the National Euro Adoption Council who had convened last week had not been provided with the papers.
As for the pros and cons of the introduction of the euro, Ribić said that the discussions were reduced to “the trivial matter” of whether prices would go up, which did not have a crucial impact on the nation’s destiny.
Ribić said the problem lay with the lack of the euro area’s readiness for Croatia. “Croatia may be ready for the euro area, however, the euro area is not ready for Croatia or smaller peripheral countries in the European Union that are marked by a weak economic growth and mass-scale emigration,” said the unionist.
He insists that the European Union has not developed institutions or compensation mechanisms necessary for countries that fare worse when the common interest, monetary, fiscal and tax policy is conducted.
“The EU is not yet a finished house. There are no mechanisms to help us to have a normal growth and development in cases when we are outvoted. In times of crisis, Croatia has no other way but to torment its own population, which we have witnessed to in the last 10 years,” Ribić claimed.
The Matica introduces itself as the Association of Croatian Trade Unions, consisting of 10 trade unions in the field of health care, preschool, primary and secondary education, science and higher education, the judiciary and banking activities.
More news about the introduction of the euro can be found in the Business section.
