EC: Slovak euro-switch was a success

THE EUROPEAN Commission has evaluated the euro changeover in Slovakia at the beginning of this year as smooth and successful in the eyes of its citizens. This stems from a communication on euro introduction which the European Commission adopted on April 20, the SITA newswire reported.

THE EUROPEAN Commission has evaluated the euro changeover in Slovakia at the beginning of this year as smooth and successful in the eyes of its citizens. This stems from a communication on euro introduction which the European Commission adopted on April 20, the SITA newswire reported.

“The changeover in Slovakia was duly prepared and smooth,” the EC stated in the report, as quoted by SITA. “Slovaks successfully managed to avoid many problems that occurred in other countries introducing the euro by learning from their experience.”

Lucia Žiláková, the press secretary of the EC representation in Slovakia told SITA that the EC drew conclusions from Slovakia’s experience with euro changeover that may help other countries aspiring to adopt the euro as their official currency.

Although the EC noted that the cash changeover started a bit more slowly in Slovakia than in the other countries that used a big-bang changeover scenario, the results attained were overall very positive. The Commission evaluated Slovakia’s national campaign on the euro introduction positively as well. Slovak authorities were very active in fighting citizens’ fears of price increases during the changeover, the report states.

It points to the results of a Eurobarometer public opinion survey carried out in January 2009 which indicates that 90 percent of Slovaks felt very well to rather well-informed and almost 84 percent were rather or very satisfied with the information provided by the Slovak authorities.

“This certainly contributed to the overall perception of the changeover: nine out of ten Slovaks perceived the changeover as smooth and efficient,” reads the EC press release.

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