Adoption of individual and common currencies is the third and final phase of the creation of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was implemented in the Mastricht Treaty. This phase was launched on January 1, 1999 and kept the fixing of the exchange rates of the implementation of the ERM II system and the implementation of individual monetary policies, integrating the Stability and Growth Agreement, as well as the introduction of the euro into currencies for all countries in the European Union. Although each member state participates as an economic and monetary union, they do not use all the euro. The United Kingdom (until it came out of the Union) did not use the euro, nor Denmark, but Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden are in the status of the two currencies, and will over time adopt euro which is predicted by the Mastricht Treaty. Before it becomes a part of the Eurozone every country needs to fulfill all the convergence criteria. For a consortium, it is necessary to establish harmonization of national legislation between the central bank of the member state and the European Central Bank.
Many experts agree that in the course of the euro financing phase, convergence criteria are somewhat facilitated in order to speed up the adoption and implementation of the new currency and introduce a monetary union. But, this is no longer the case, and the countries that want to join the Eurozone must now fully meet all the convergence criteria. The best example of rigor in respecting the rules is the representation of the subsequent accession of the Eurozone are Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia. In this case, the rules are harshly respected and countries could not access the EMU until all the convergence criteria are met. Regarding the countries that are candidates for Eurozone membership, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Sweden have met all the criteria, except the criteria about the stability of the exchange rate, while on the other hand, theCentral bank of Croatia has yet to harmonize its legislation with Eurozone . Consequently, the entry of new states into the Eurozone is expected when the convergence foreseen by the Mastricht Treaty.
Public opinion in these countries is divided on the issue of their country's entry into the Eurozone. Most in Romania, Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria are for the adoption of the euro, while in other countries the public is largely against it. However, only 18% of them want to use the single currency as soon as possible. However, due to the inconsistency in meeting the criteria and institutional barriers that exist in the Union, it is not realistic to expect that any of the countries to join the Eurozone before 2020.
Within the European Monetary Union, all member states coordinate economic and fiscal policy. Some of them also adopted the euro and thus completed the third phase. Together these countries make up Eurozone, which was introduced in 1999. The first members of the euro zone are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, while Greece joined in 2001. Denmark and Great Britain joined the European Union before Eurozone was established, but later decided to stay out of it, and as a reason they cited economic sovereignty and a strong national currency that they do not want to change from historical or national identity reasons. So these countries can accept the euro, fulfill the convergence criteria, and have not joined the Eurozone.
