Slovakia to join the Eurozone on January 1st

The European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) welcomes the introduction of the common currency in Slovakia. On January 1st 2009, the country will join the ranks of currently 15 member states that use the Euro. "Start-up packages" containing the EUR equivalent of 500 Sk (16.60 €) are already sold at all post offices and local commercial banks since December 1st.

LYMEC President Aloys Rigaut states: "On New Year, five million Slovaks will join the 317 million Europeans which are already using the Euro in their everyday life. We very much welcome this step. The financial crisis has shown that countries within the euro area are much less vulnerable to exchange rate volatilities than those inside. Together we are stronger than on our own."

Slovakia is a high-income economy according to the World Bank with one of the fastest growth rates in the European Union.

LYMEC Vice President Alexander Plahr declares: "The Economic and Monetary Union is a cornerstone of further European integration that we strive for. Having a common currency and a common market will lead to further political integration as well as contribute to the feeling of belonging together as Europeans. At the same time, it brings many economic benefits such as reducing transaction costs and exchange rate risks as well as making prices transparent, thereby bringing them down in the long run."

He then went on to add: "For the new year we hope that the debate about introduction of the Euro starts again in some other member states as well. Particularly Denmark has the political potential to do so. At the same time, we hope that the Baltic states manage to fulfil the Maastricht criteria as soon as possible."

On a side note, liberals from across Europe will have the possibility to use the new Slovak Euro coins next May, when LYMEC conducts a seminar on civil rights in Bratislava and Vienna.

The European Liberal Youth, abbreviated as LYMEC, is a pan-European youth organisation seeking to promote liberal values throughout the EU and particularly through and as the youth organisation of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) and its parliamentary group in the European Parliament (ALDE, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe).

Involving about 210,000 members from all across Europe, LYMEC is made up Member Organisations (MO) and Individual Membership (IM) and it is active across the whole of the European continent. Our central aim is the creation of a liberal and federal Europe.

LYMEC Secretariat
c/o ELDR Party, Rue Montoyer 31/7, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 237 0146
Fax: +32 2 231 1907
Email: office@lymec.org
Website: www.lymec.org

This release was published on openPR.