Slovenia One of the Most Serious Candidates for EMU and EU, Says Commissioner Solbes

Madrid, 24 July - SLOVENIA/EU/EMU
"It is impossible to simultaneously join the EU and the European Monetary Union (EMU), but each new member country will have the opportunity to apply for EMU membership from the first day of its full EU membership. After a two-year transitional period during which the country will meet the necessary criteria, it will be able to enter the EMU." That was stressed on Monday by the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Pedro Solbes, at a meeting with Franci But, Slovenia's deputy chief negotiator with the EU, on the sidelines of a two-day conference on EU enlargement, organised by the University of Complutense in El Escorial near Madrid, Spain.