&lt;p>The draft report MEPs discuss and vote on endorses Croatia’s adoption of the Euro on 1 January 2023 and states that “Croatia fulfils all the criteria for adopting the euro as a result of ambitious, determined, credible and sustainable efforts by the Croatian Government and the Croatian people”. Siegfried MUREŞAN makes a statement ahead of the debate, answering the concerns about the inflation and the prices possibly rising after the adoption of the Euro.&lt;/p>

Adoption by Croatia of the Euro on 1 January 2023: extracts from the debate and the vote and statement by Siegfried MUREŞAN (EPP, RO), Rapporteur

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Title: Adoption by Croatia of the euro on 1 January 2023: extracts from the debate and the vote and statement by Sigfried Muresan (EPP, RO), Rapporteur

SOUNDBITE (English), Siegfried MURE&#350;AN (EPP, RO), Rapporteur, Croatia joining the euro area is good news for the people of Croatia. It's good news for Croatian enterprises because there will be more investments coming to Croatia, more economic development and more jobs created in Croatia. It will be easier for tourists from other countries of the eurozone to come to Croatia and enjoy holidays there. It will be easier and cheaper for Croatian companies to export to other countries of the euro area because they do not have any costs and any risks with the conversion of the national currency into the area.

SOUNDBITE (English), Siegfried MUREŞAN (EPP, RO), Rapporteur, I was visiting Zagreb three weeks ago. I met with Prime Minister Plenkovic, with the Minister of Finance, with the President, with the Governor of the Central Bank, with Members of Parliament. And I could see firsthand the commitment and also the concrete measures put in place to make sure that there will not be any artificial inflation. There is an ethics code. There will be a monitoring of the prices of the most important goods. There will be work done with NGOs. And most important, there will be a dual publication of prices. As of this autumn, prices will be published in Euros and in Kuna and people will be able to see if there was and to report if there was any artificial increase in prices.

SOUNDBITE (English), Siegfried MUREŞAN (EPP, RO), Croatia will continue in the next years, will have to continue in the next years. Strengthening its economy, make its economy more competitive, improve the infrastructure. So absorb all of the EU funds from the European Recovery and Resilience Facility, plus from the EU budget to reduce disparities between Croatia, particularly between the rural areas and the rest of the eurozone. So investments are key. Strengthening competitiveness is key. Energy security is also key and very important, continue to manage the budget with care. The budget is people's money. The Government has shown in recent years that it manages the budget with care, with responsibility because debt has to be paid back and too much debt is always a burden for the people. It's a burden for the country, and it has to be avoided.

SOUNDBITE (English), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, Croatia has fulfilled the four economic convergence criteria and its national legislation on monetary affairs is also in line with the treaty. The commission has therefore made the legal proposal required by the treaty for the introduction of the single currency. We have examined Croatia thoroughly and fairly in full respect of the principle of equal treatment.

SOUNDBITE (German), Markus FERBER (EPP, DE), If we look at the figures, we can see that Croatia is in a much better position than certain other well-established member of the European of the eurozone. So let us think about this. Stabilityity of the common currency needs to be maintained, and that should make us join hands. It's important for each member of the eurozone to have co responsibility for the entire community. That is why we need to have responsible budgetary policies too.

SOUNDBITE (Portuguese), Margarida MARQUES (S&amp;D, PT), Accession to the eurozone in 2023 is a good sign of progress in the EU since Brexit. The ECON Committee should congratulate the Croatian people on the route that it has travelled, and we hope it will be successful.

SOUNDBITE (English), Georgios KYRTSOS (Renew, EL), Croatia sends a message it was able to move from war and destruction to European development within a few decades. A very good example, perfect example for all the countries that aspire to join the European Union. The Eurozone sends the message that was able to deal to cope with the European economic crisis and that it even found a way to strengthen and continuously expand itself together.

Adoption by Croatia of the Euro on 1 January 2023: extracts from the debate and the vote and statement by Siegfried MUREŞAN (EPP, RO), Rapporteur

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