Slovakia to Join Eurozone on January 1st

Image via WikipediaOn January 1st the Slovak koruna will join the French Franc, the German Deutschmark and the Irish Punt in the history of Currencies as Slovakia will officially join the eurozone and begin to use the notes and coins as of January 1st. The fixed exchange rate is €1 = 30.1260SKK.

With Slovakia joining it will increase the Eurozone to 16 members of the EU. The number of people using the euro will increase by over 5 million. This will make travel and business between Slovakia and the other Eurozone members easier.

Under the accession treaties for Countries who acceded to the EU in 2004 and 2007 are compelled to join the Euro. Of the post 2004 member states, Slovenia was the first to join in 2007 with Malta and Cyprus following at the start of this year.

2010 will see no countries joining the Euro, but Estonia is aiming for a 2011 changeover. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Poland are all aiming for a 2012 date for joining the Euro. Poland will have a long road to the Euro as it must hold a referendum and change its Constitution and join ERM II in the first quarter of next year, it is looking unlikely.

Lithuania was hoping to join the Euro in 2007 but high inflation forced the Government to change its plans. Lithuania is currently hoping to join the Euro in 2013.


----
Previous Articles:
# Ditching The Euro
# 6 days to E-Day for Slovenia and Bulgaria's and Romania's Big Day

Related articles by Zemanta

• Slovakia set to be 16th country to adopt euro
• Commission assesses readiness of 10 EU countries to adopt the euro; proposes Slovakia joins euro area in 2009
• Slovak euro exchange rate is set

Lisbon Treaty, State of Play, May 9th "Europe Day"

Latvia and Lithuania are the latest countries to ratify the treaty. While the Czech Republic has joined Germany in waiting for the courts to decided before they can offically sign off on the treaty.

Austria - Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 24/04/2008

Belgium - Parliamentary Vote. In Progress. Has passed the Senate (6th March) and the Chamber of Representatives (10th April). The treaty still has to pass the Brussels Regional Parliament, Flemish Parliament, Walloon Parliament, French Community Parliament and the German-speaking Community Parliament all due Mid-July

Bulgaria - Parliamentary Vote. Approved 21/3/2008

Cyprus - Parliamentary Vote.

Czech Republic - Parliamentary Vote. In Progress. The Czech Senate decided to postpone the vote on the treaty and asked the constitutional court for its opinion on the treaty to see whether it is in line with Czech law
Denmark - Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 24/04/2008

Estonia - Parliamentary Vote. In Progress. Vote due in May.

Finland - Parliamentary Vote. Vote due in the Autumn.

France - Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 08/02/2008

Germany - Parliamentary Vote. In Progress. The Bundestag is due to vote on the 25th of April and the Bundesrat is due to vote on the 23rd of May. There is also a pending case before the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe which must be completed before the President will sign off on the treaty.

Greece - Parliamentary Vote. Vote due in Spring.

Hungary - Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 17/12/2007

Republic of Ireland - Referendum. Referendum due on 12th June.

Italy - Parliamentary Vote. In Progress. The vote will take place some time after the 29th of April.

Latvia - Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 08/05/2008

Lithuania - Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 08/05/2008

Luxembourg - Parliamentary Vote. In Progress. Vote due in June.

Malta- Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 29/01/2008

Netherlands - Parliamentary Vote. Vote due in the Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (Second Chamber) in the June and the Eerste Kamer (First Chamber) in Autumn.

Poland - Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 02/04/2008

Portugal - Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 23/04/2008

Romania- Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 04/02/2008

Slovakia - Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 10/04/2008

Slovenia - Parliamentary Vote. Approved : 29/01/2008

Spain - Parliamentary Vote.

Sweden - Parliamentary Vote. Vote due in November.

United Kingdom - Parliamentary Vote. In Progress. Passed the House of Commons (11th March). House of Lords to vote in April. Date TBD for Gibraltar Parliament.

------
Sources:
Europa
Wikipedia

Eurovision 2007 Finland

Hello Europe, this is Cork Calling!

Well its getting closer! The year 2007 that is and im already getting my fill of updates from esctoday.com and eurovision.tv but i hadnt realisied that this year a record 42 countries will be taking part in the competition. God the voting will be even longer.

This year Hungary and Austria (dropped out for 2006) return to the competition and teh Czech Republic and Georgia join the ESC Family. Also this year with the seperation of Montenegro from Serbia, they are competing as seperate countries.

The contest could have been bigger but Monaco has decided not to take part this year

The line up for the 52nd Edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in the Hartwall Areena, Helsinki, so far is

Semi-Final: Thursday 10th of May, 2007
Participating countries (28): Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, FYR Macedonia, Georgia , Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Latvia , Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey

Final: Saturday 12th of May, 2007
Participating countries: Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

Participants so far confirmed:
*Moldova: Natalia Barbu, Fight
*The Netherlands: Edsilia Rombley
*Switzerland: Dj Bobo
*Ireland: Dervish

Albania will be the next country to choose their act when Festival i kenges is broadcast on the 23rd of December.

For more information on upcoming selections check out ESCtoday's Calender