Hello Euroland!

[velik_m]

Ex-communist Slovenia joins euro

Slovenia has become Europe's first former communist country to adopt the euro as its currency.

The euro symbol was displayed on flags, balloons and t-shirts at New Year's Eve celebrations in the capital Ljubljana as Slovenes prepared for the switch.

The existing currency, the tolar, will be phased out over the next 14 days.

Slovenia is the first of the 10 new EU members that joined in 2004 to have met the economic requirements needed to adopt the single currency.

It becomes the 13th country in the euro zone.

The Slovene minister of finance, Andrej Bajuk, was one of the first people to withdraw the Slovene euros from an electronic cash machine.

"We are extremely happy and proud . We took this as a national project and we have indeed achieved and fulfilled all the criteria to make this a reality," he said.

"It's extremely important for us. I am sure that the net benefits that we are going to reap are positive and substantial, that we are going to increase our exports and that things will move faster and better than before."

Inflation concerns

Slovenes seem to be relaxed about the change, says the BBC's Nicholas Walton in Ljubljana.

The euro becomes the fourth currency they have used in less than two decades. The tolar was introduced after Slovenia split from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Even critics of the government are broadly in favour of the change, saying it will encourage the government to reform the economy more quickly.

But some fear it will lead to inflation.

Celebrating New Year in Ljubljana, Nina Peskar, a 20-year-old student, said: "I look forward to the euro because it will make travel abroad easier but at the same time I'm afraid prices might go up."


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6222115.stm

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slovenian euro coins: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenian_euro_coins

[Texas_Ranger]

I hate Euro, it sucks.

[velik_m]

Why? You found out how little you have?

[Pero]

"We are extremely happy and proud . We took this as a national project and we have indeed achieved and fulfilled all the criteria to make this a reality,"

Who we? I˙m not happy, and I`m not really that much proud either....
Fucking euro... too soon I think.


"I look forward to the euro because it will make travel abroad easier but at the same time I'm afraid prices might go up."

Well duhh, of course prices will go up....


Why? You found out how little you have?

And that too. :lol

Fuck, what was wrong with Tolar? Nothing....

[Slomo]

Who we? I˙m not happy, and I`m not really that much proud either....
Fucking euro... too soon I think.



Well duhh, of course prices will go up....



And that too. :lol

Fuck, what was wrong with Tolar? Nothing....From a pure business point of view it makes a lot of sense. The travel thing is nice but hardly the reason for doing it.

The prices will go up because we didn't follow Austria's examples where the fines for "rounding up" prices were so high very few dared to do it. We decided to rely on the honesty of the retail chain and the shame of public exposure - that worked really well in Italy :bang.

For a small country like ours to have its own currency is very expensive. So we exchanged something that was an unecessary luxury for one of the more stable currency in the world. It's not really a bad deal.

[Pero]

Maybe it`s not a bad deal, but couldn`t we wait like a few more years? :)
And yes, Italians are very happy they switched to euros. :lol

[Slomo]

And yes, Italians are very happy they switched to euros. :lol
Well they are now, but for the first year or so....

no too much :lol

[Pero]

Well they are now, but for the first year or so....

no too much :lol

Heheheh, I can believe that. But I was joking before. The (few) Italians I know, aren`t happy, at the most they just got used to it. :)

[velik_m]

I'm no longer a millionaire. :(

[Billy Cobham]

Euro Forum

[angel_luv]

Wow- that's interesting.

I hope that both my bank account and the currency exchange rate is good- especially around August/ September this year. :)

[scott]

As an American who will be making his 2nd annual Euro trip this Feb (this year it's a tour of Germany), I love the Euro.

[polandprzem]

Euro would kill us I guess

[Slomo]

As an American who will be making his 2nd annual Euro trip this Feb (this year it's a tour of Germany), I love the Euro.Really?
Because the $/€ exchange rate is really shitty right now.

The €/$ on the other side is great :spin.


Sorry Angel, but at this point Europe is expensive for american travellers, but who knows what will happen by autumn.

Scott, what is your travelling plan in Feb.? Any plans to visit southern Germany (Bavaria) and do some skiing?

[angel_luv]

Sorry Angel, but at this point Europe is expensive for american travellers, but who knows what will happen by autumn.



I'll petition for raises at both jobs to be on the safe side. :)

[velik_m]

On a side note - EU now has 27 states, Bolgaria and Romania being the latest addition.

The European Union's member states if combined would represent the world's largest economy by GDP, the seventh largest territory in the world by area and the third largest by population.

[scott]

Really?
Because the $/€ exchange rate is really shitty right now.

The €/$ on the other side is great :spin.


Sorry Angel, but at this point Europe is expensive for american travellers, but who knows what will happen by autumn.

Scott, what is your travelling plan in Feb.? Any plans to visit southern Germany (Bavaria) and do some skiing?

Yeah, not from an exchange rate perspective but just from the easy of travelling between countries. Last year I did France/Netherlands/Belgium and a common currency makes everything so easy.

I'm flying into Frankfurt, don't know how long I'll stay there, then rail to Salzburg (since I can get there on my German railpass), then spend a few days in Munich and surrounding area (maybe do one day of skiing, but I hear they have not been getting much snow?), then a few days in Berlin. I'd like to stop in Cologne if I can on the way back to Frankfurt, I'll have to see what the rail schedules look like to see if I could spend a few hours there. I only have a 4-day Flexipass.

[Slomo]

Yeah, not from an exchange rate perspective but just from the easy of travelling between countries. Last year I did France/Netherlands/Belgium and a common currency makes everything so easy.

I'm flying into Frankfurt, don't know how long I'll stay there, then rail to Salzburg (since I can get there on my German railpass), then spend a few days in Munich and surrounding area (maybe do one day of skiing, but I hear they have not been getting much snow?), then a few days in Berlin. I'd like to stop in Cologne if I can on the way back to Frankfurt, I'll have to see what the rail schedules look like to see if I could spend a few hours there. I only have a 4-day Flexipass.Nice itinerary!

Yes we're still waiting for snow, but there should be some serious snowfall by February.

If you're in Salzburg I would recommend Obertauern, you are guaranteed to find decent snow conditions there, plus it's the place were the Beatles filmed the snow scenes in Help.

[Texas_Ranger]

Why? You found out how little you have?

No. It's just strange to me because I was using tolar for many years. :greedy :(

[Streakyshooter08]

Hey Scott, have a lot of fun on your trip!!! :)

[ShoogarBear]

So they're 27 countries in the EU, but only 13 use the Euro?

Is it a requirement that to be in the EU, you must eventually adopt the Euro?

[Slomo]

So they're 27 countries in the EU, but only 13 use the Euro?

Is it a requirement that to be in the EU, you must eventually adopt the Euro?Yes.

In order for a country to become a member state they must fullfill the majority of the criteria for membership divided into so called chapters (if a chapter or two are not yet fullfilled/closed they can still become a member state, but the common rights/obligations under those chapters will not be implemented for that particular state and a deadline will be set by which they must be closed).

After that the country becomes a member state by signing a contract with the EU. One of the commitments under that contract is that they will implement the recquired financial discipline to adopt the common european currency the Euro. The criteria defining whether a state is ready for the Euro are very strict and all the new members are working toward them because of the economical benefits that the Euro brings.

If you concider who the Euro countries are (Germany, France, Austria...) it is quite clear why it is so difficult for the new (eastern) members to achieve an economical stability and strength comparable to the old members and why the adoption of the Euro is a lengthy process. In our case size again worked to our advantage since a smaller economy like ours is much more flexible and can transform itself much faster.

Of course there are also old members who have not adopted the Euro (UK, Sweden) but mainly because of sentimental reasons and against the express wishes of their economists.