2008/608/EC: Council Decision of 8 July 2008 in accordance with Article 122(2) of the Treaty on the adoption by Slovakia of the single currency on 1 January 2009
Date: 2008-07-08
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Economic and Monetary Union, European Monetary System, Slovakia, euro

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(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory)

II

DECISIONS

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 8 July 2008

in accordance with Article 122(2) of the Treaty on the adoption by Slovakia of the single currency
on 1 January 2009

(2008/608/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Article 122(2) thereof,

establishing the European

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the report from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the report from the European Central Bank (2),

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (3),

Having regard to the discussion of the Council, meeting in the
composition of Heads of State or Government,

(2)

(3)

Whereas:

(1)

The third stage of economic and monetary union (here­
inafter referred to as ‘EMU’) started on 1 January 1999.
By Decision 98/317/EC (4),
the Council, meeting in
Brussels on 3 May 1998 in the composition of Heads

Ireland,

of State or Government, found that Belgium, Germany,
Spain, France,
the Neth­
and Finland fulfilled the
erlands, Austria, Portugal
necessary conditions for adopting the single currency
on 1 January 1999.

Italy, Luxembourg,

By Decision 2000/427/EC (5) the Council decided that
Greece fulfilled the necessary conditions for adopting
the single currency on 1 January 2001. By Decision
2006/495/EC (6)
the Council decided that Slovenia
fulfilled the necessary conditions for adopting the single
By Decisions
currency
2007/503/EC (7)
the Council
decided that Cyprus and Malta fulfilled the necessary
on
for
conditions
1 January 2008.

1
and 2007/504/EC (8)

adopting

currency

January

2007.

single

the

on

In accordance with paragraph 1 of
the Protocol on
certain provisions relating to the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland annexed to the
Treaty, the United Kingdom notified the Council that it
did not intend to move to the third stage of EMU on
1 January 1999. This notification has not been changed.
In accordance with paragraph 1 of
the Protocol on
certain provisions relating to Denmark annexed to the
Treaty and the Decision taken by the Heads of State or
Government in Edinburgh in December 1992, Denmark
has notified the Council that it will not participate in the
third stage of EMU. Denmark has not requested that the
procedure referred to in Article 122(2) of the Treaty be
initiated.

(1) Report adopted on 7 May 2008.
(2) Report adopted on 6 May 2008.
(3) Opinion delivered on 17 June 2008 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(4) OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 30.

(5) OJ L 167, 7.7.2000, p. 19.
(6) OJ L 195, 15.7.2006, p. 25.
(7) OJ L 186, 18.7.2007, p. 29.
(8) OJ L 186, 18.7.2007, p. 32.

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(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

the

By virtue of Decision 98/317/EC Sweden has a dero­
the Treaty.
gation as defined in Article 122 of
In
the 2003 Act of
accordance with Article 4 of
Accession,
Latvia,
Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have a dero­
the Treaty.
gation as defined in Article 122 of
In
accordance with Article 5 of
the 2005 Act of
Accession, Bulgaria and Romania have a derogation as
defined in Article 122 of the Treaty.

Republic,

Estonia,

Czech

The European Central Bank (hereinafter referred to as
‘ECB’) was established on 1 July 1998. The European
Monetary System has been replaced by an exchange-
rate mechanism, the setting-up of which was agreed by
a resolution of
the European Council on the estab­
lishment of an exchange-rate mechanism in the third
stage of economic and monetary union of 16 June
1997 (1).
exchange-rate
mechanism in stage three of economic and monetary
union (ERM II) were laid down in the Agreement of
16 March 2006 between the ECB and the national
central banks of the Member States outside the euro
area laying down the operating procedures
for an
exchange-rate mechanism in stage three of economic
and monetary union (2).

procedures

The

for

an

the derogation of

Article 122(2) of the Treaty lays down the procedures for
the Member States
abrogation of
concerned. According to that Article at least once every
two years, or at the request of a Member State with a
derogation, the Commission and the ECB are to report to
the Council in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 121(1) of
recent
Commission and ECB regular Convergence Reports
were adopted in May 2008. Slovakia submitted a
formal
assessment on
4 April 2008.

the Treaty. The most

convergence

request

for

a

National legislation in the Member States including the
statutes of national central banks is to be adapted as
necessary with a view to ensuring compatibility with
Articles 108 and 109 of the Treaty and the Statute of
the European System of Central Banks and of
the
referred to as
European Central Bank (hereinafter
‘Statute of the ESCB’). The reports of the Commission
and the ECB provide a detailed assessment of the com­
patibility of the legislation of Slovakia with Articles 108
and 109 of the Treaty and the Statute of the ESCB.

(8)

the Protocol on the
According to Article 1 of
convergence criteria referred to in Article 121 of the

that of, at most,

Treaty, the criterion concerning price stability referred to
in the first indent of Article 121(1) of the Treaty means
that a Member State has a price performance that is
sustainable and an average rate of
inflation, observed
over a period of one year before the examination, that
does not exceed by more than one and a half percentage
the three best performing
points
Member States
the
in terms of price stability. For
purpose of
the criterion concerning price stability,
inflation is measured by the harmonised indices of
consumer prices (HICPs) defined in Council Regulation
(EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995 concerning
harmonised indices of consumer prices (3). In order to
the price stability criterion a Member State’s
assess
inflation is measured by the percentage change in the
arithmetic average of 12 monthly indices relative to the
arithmetic average of 12 monthly indices of the previous
period. In the one-year period ending in March 2008, the
three best-performing Member States in terms of price
stability were Malta, the Netherlands and Denmark, with
inflation rates of, respectively 1,5 percent, 1,7 percent
and 2,0 percent. A reference value calculated as the
simple arithmetic average of the inflation rates of the
three best-performing Member States in terms of price
stability plus 1,5 percentage points was considered in the
reports of the Commission and the ECB. On this basis,
the reference value in the one-year period ending in
March 2008 was 3,2 percent.

(9)

the

criterion

the Protocol on the
According to Article 2 of
convergence criteria referred to in Article 121 of the
Treaty,
government
budgetary position referred to in the second indent of
Article 121(1) of the Treaty means that at the time of the
examination the Member State is not the subject of a
Council Decision under Article 104(6) of
the Treaty
that an excessive deficit exists.

concerning

the

(10) According to Article 3 of

the Protocol on the
convergence criteria referred to in Article 121 of the
the criterion concerning participation in the
Treaty,
exchange-rate mechanism of
the European Monetary
System referred to in the third indent of Article 121(1)
of the Treaty means that a Member State has respected
the normal
fluctuation margins provided for by the
the European Monetary
exchange-rate mechanism of
System without severe tensions for at least the last two
years before the examination. In particular, the Member
State must not have devalued its currency’s bilateral
central rate against any other Member State’s currency
on its own initiative
same period. Since
for
1 January 1999 the ERM II provides the framework for
assessing the fulfilment of the exchange-rate criterion. In
assessing the fulfilment of this criterion in their reports,
the Commission and the ECB have examined the two-
year period ending on 18 April 2008.

the

(1) OJ C 236, 2.8.1997, p. 5.
(2) OJ C 73, 25.3.2006, p. 21. Agreement as amended by the
Agreement of 14 December 2007 (OJ C 319, 29.12.2007, p. 7).

(3) OJ L 257, 27.10.1995, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation
(EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council
(OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

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(11) According to Article 4 of

referred to in the

the Protocol on the
convergence criteria referred to in Article 121 of the
the criterion concerning the convergence of
Treaty,
interest
fourth indent of
rates
Article 121(1) of the Treaty means that, observed over
a period of one year before the examination, a Member
State has had an average nominal long-term interest rate
that does not exceed by more than two percentage points
that of, at most, the three best performing Member States
in terms of price stability. For the purpose of the criteria
concerning the convergence of interest rates, comparable
interest rates on 10-year benchmark government bonds
were used.
the
interest-rate criterion a reference value calculated as the
long-term
the nominal
simple arithmetic average of
interest
the three best performing Member
States in terms of price stability plus two percentage
points was considered in the reports of the Commission
and the ECB. On this basis, the reference value in the
one-year period ending in March 2008 was 6,5 percent.

In order to assess the fulfilment of

rates of

(12)

the Protocol on the
In accordance with Article 5 of
convergence criteria referred to in Article 121 of the
Treaty, the data used in the current assessment of the
fulfilment of the convergence criteria are to be provided
by the Commission. For the preparation of this decision
the Commission provided data. Budgetary data were
provided by the Commission after
reporting by the
Member States by 1 April 2008 in accordance with
Council Regulation (EC) No 3605/93 of 22 November
1993 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive
deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the
European Community (1).

well below the reference value, and it is likely to
remain below the reference value in the months
ahead, albeit with a narrowing margin,

— the budget deficit in Slovakia has seen a credible
and sustainable reduction to below 3 percent of
GDP; the Commission therefore recommended to
the Council to abrogate Decision 2005/182/EC of
5 July 2004 on the existence of an excessive
deficit for Slovakia (2),

— Slovakia has been a member of ERM II since
28 November 2005;
in the two-year period
ending 18 April 2008, the Slovak koruna (SKK)
has not been subject
to severe tensions and
Slovakia has not devalued, on its own initiative,
the SKK bilateral central rate against the euro,

— in the year ending March 2008, the long-term
interest rate in Slovakia was, on average, 4,5
percent which is below the reference value.

additional

In the light of the assessment on legal compatibility and
on the fulfilment of the convergence criteria as well as
the
and provided that Decision
2005/182/EC on the existence of an excessive deficit is
abrogated by the Council, Slovakia fulfils the necessary
conditions for the adoption of the euro.

factors,

(13) On the basis of reports presented by the Commission
and the ECB on the progress made in the fulfilment by
Slovakia of its obligations regarding the achievement of
the Commission
economic
concluded that:

and monetary

union,

(14)

By Decision 2008/562/EC (3) the Council, acting on a
recommendation from the Commission,
abrogated
Decision 2005/182/EC on the existence of an excessive
deficit in Slovakia.

— in Slovakia, national legislation, including the Statute
of
is compatible with
Articles 108 and 109 of the Treaty and the Statute
of the ESCB,

the national central bank,

(15) According to Article 122(2) of the Treaty the Council,
acting by qualified majority on a proposal by the
is to decide which Member States with a
Commission,
derogation fulfil
the
adoption of the single currency and abrogate the dero­
gations of the Member States concerned,

the necessary

conditions

for

— regarding

the

the
convergence criteria mentioned in the four indents
of Article 121(1) of the Treaty:

fulfilment

Slovakia

by

of

— the average inflation rate in Slovakia in the year
ending March 2008 stood at 2,2 percent, which is

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Slovakia fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of the
single currency. The derogation in favour of Slovakia referred to
in Article 4 of the 2003 Act of Accession shall be abrogated
with effect from 1 January 2009.

(1) OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 7. Regulation as last amended by Regu­

lation (EC) No 2103/2005 (OJ L 337, 22.12.2005, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 62, 9.3.2005, p. 16.
(3) OJ L 181, 10.7.2008, p. 43.

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This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 2

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 3

Done at Brussels, 8 July 2008.

For the Council
The President

C. LAGARDE