摘要：Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) areexpected to become effective members of the European MonetaryUnion (EMU) after having satisfied a number of criteria which willtake them some years to achieve, following their accession to theEuropean Union (EU). According to the official views of theEuropean Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB),monetary integration of CEEC in the euro area should be a multi-lateral, successive and phased process, leading finally to theiradoption of the euro. The paper addresses some issues relating tothe suitability and readiness of CEEC with regard to joining EMU.Special reference is made to optimum currency area criteria, notonly as theoretical background for monetary integration, but also toprovide an additional insight into the measurement of the relativesuitability and readiness of individual accession countries to joinEMU. As an illustration, the paper attempts to measure some of theoptimum currency area indicators for the case of Slovenia, andconcludes that Slovenia is relatively suitable and well-prepared tojoin the euro area. In particular, Slovenia is not expected to beexposed to serious asymmetric shocks, once the country joins EMU
