Civic Democrats want referendum on adoption of euro

The right-of-centre Civic Democrats have called on the upper house of Parliament to back a proposal for Czechs to decide in a referendum whether or not the country should adopt the European currency. The opposition party says the conditions for adopting the euro and joining the Eurozone are markedly different from when the Czech Republic first joined the EU in 2004. Euro MP Jan Zahradil was one of the initiators of a petition with 40,000 signatures which brought the issue to the Senate and its National Economic Committee. The committee has stressed that it is essential that adoption of the currency be advantageous for the country. The ruling centre-left coalition enjoys a majority in the upper house; the government and the president are in favour of adopting the euro. President Zeman said last year he hoped it would happen within the next five years.

Author: Jan Velinger