摘要：At the time of its inception, the EEC’s founders already expressed their desire to institute on the territory of the future integration an economic and monetary union with the aim of creating “the United States of Europe”. The 1962 program of the European Commission for the Community’s Development was designed along these lines. Following a number of years of successful economic cooperation of member states, the creation of the monetary union was negotiated at the 1998 Maastricht meeting, while the beginning of the implementation was envisaged for the early 1999. The 1997 Luxembourg meeting was a turning point in the EU’s development. The extension of EU was agreed upon, and the third stage of the EMU worked out. The EU’s future development “in five gears” was devised, and the countries were categorized into groups according to the level in which they satisfy the conditions necessary for acceptance. Furthermore, the EU offers to those transitional countries which satisfy the necessary conditions for further cooperation the “partnership prior to membership”, a new way of cooperation which provides financial support to transitional countries in order to pave the way for them to join the EU. Croatia has shown interest for all kinds of links with the EU, particularly via the associate membership as a step to full membership. There is no doubt that the introduction of the new pan-European currency (as well as all the changes occurring within the EU) is going to affect Croatian economy. Croatia has stepped up its preparations for getting in line with the new economic and financial developments emerging in Europe, which will be triggered off by the establishment of the European Monetary Union (EMU).
