New Euro Area Member State from 2009: Slovakia

Slovakia has adopted the euro as its currency as of 1 January 2009, when euro banknotes and coins will be put into circulation and the Slovak currency, the koruna, will gradually be withdrawn. The conversion rate will be 30.1260 Slovak korunas per euro, corresponding to the central rate for the koruna applying in ERM II.

The euro banknotes will be identical to those used elsewhere in the euro area, while the euro coins will have one national side, as is the case in the other euro area member states. The national euro coins of the other euro area member states will be legal tender in Slovakia and vice versa. The national sides of the Slovak euro coins are shown in Box 1.

Slovakia is the fourth of the EU member states from the 2004 enlargement to adopt the single currency, following in the footsteps of Slovenia (2007) and Cyprus and Malta (2008).

As of 1 January 2009, the following 16 of the 27 EU member states will thus have the euro as their currency: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.