Enlargement of the eurozone

Eleven countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) are EU members but do not use the euro. Before joining the eurozone, a state must spend two years in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II). Since 1 January 2009, the National Central Banks (NCBs) of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Denmark have been participating in ERM II. The remaining currencies are expected to follow as soon as they meet the criteria. Few countries have declared a target date, and only Estonia has gained approval to join on 1 January 2011.[18]

Denmark and the United Kingdom obtained special opt-outs in the original Maastricht Treaty. Both countries are legally exempt from joining the eurozone unless their governments decide otherwise, either by parliamentary vote or referendum. The current Danish government has announced plans to hold a referendum on the issue following the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon.[19][20][21] Sweden gained a de facto opt-out by using a legal loophole. It is required to join the eurozone as soon as it fulfills the convergence criteria, which includes being part of ERM II for two years, while joining ERM II is voluntary.[22][23] Sweden has so far decided not to join ERM II.
A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational European organisations.v • d • e

The 2008 financial crisis increased interest in Denmark and initially in Poland to join the eurozone, and in Iceland to join the European Union, a pre-condition for adopting the euro.[24] Since Latvia requested help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as a precondition, it may be forced to drop its currency peg. This would take Latvia out of ERM II and possibly move the euro adoption date even further from 2013 than currently planned.[25] However, by 2010, the debt crisis in the euro zone caused interest from Poland and the Czech Republic to cool.[26]


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