Podgorica, (MINA-BUSINESS) – Chairman of the parliamentary group of the Social Democrats (SD) Boris Mugosa believes that the use of the euro as an official currency in Montenegro is no longer debatable, but its specificity will require a modification of certain euro convergence criteria.
He said that the standards for the use of the euro would be a challenge in negotiations with the EU in terms of closing the negotiating Chapter 17 – Economic and monetary union.
“On the basis of the information coming from the Montenegrin negotiators, the use of the euro is not questionable for the time being, although we are aware that this specific situation requires a modification of certain convergence criteria for the eurozone accession,” Mugosa told Mina-business agency.
He added that Montenegro, which had been using the euro as an official currency since 2002, could not rely on the negotiation experiences of other EU member states, as this is the first time for our European partners to negotiate with a country that already uses the euro.
“In any case, our priority must be to continue strengthening the financial stability and improving our competitiveness,” Mugosa said, adding that the European officials argued that a continuous progress in that field was one of the conditions for further use of the euro in Montenegro.
He said that the fact that Chapter 17 was among the last ones that had been opened, proved how complex this field was, and how stringent were the standards that must be met.
“It is therefore realistic to expect that this chapter will be among the last ones that will be closed,” said Mugosa.
This article was published with the financial support of the European Union available within the framework of the project “Dealing with Ethics and Fake News” IPA2018/397-252. The Mina agency assumes full responsibility for its contents, which do not necessarily reflect the position of the EU.
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