ECB rejects eastern fast-track to eurozone - by Valentina Pop
The European Central Bank (ECB) on Monday dismissed proposals made by the International Monetary Fund for eastern European member states to adopt the euro even without full membership of the eurozone. "This [IMF proposal] is not realistic. The membership for European monetary union has very clear rules and these rules have to be followed. From an economic point of view, it would not be a good signal [for] the confidence . . . towards the euro," Ewald Nowotny, ECB governing council member, told Reuters. The bank was responding to the publication in the Financial Times of a confidential report drafted by the IMF last month as part of a regional anti-crisis strategy for the eastern EU countries. It suggested that the EU should relax euro entry rules for countries like Hungary and Poland so that these countries can join as quasi-members without needing to hold a board seat in the ECB.
Note EU-Digest: A very good decision by ECB to not allow fast track for Eastern European Nations. It would totally tarnish the good reputation of the euro.
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