Croatia officaly joins Eurozone

[Jana]

This shouldn't be decided without referendum.

Meh, even joining NATO wasn't on referendum. This keep Kuna movement is pure populism, Kuna has never been stand alone currency and of course it's much weaker than Euro thus Croatia was getting worse loans abroad. Our credit rating was upgraded recently exactly due to Euro switch.

[Tooting Carmen]

Uneducated nonsense. Croatia never had any of these two. And since it doesn't, it will make much greater profit while being in the club itself.

Joining the Schengen Agreement in many ways I'd say is more of an attack on sovereignty than the single currency is.

[Jana]

Moody's Investors Service, one of the three leading international credit rating agencies, on Friday decided to place Croatia's Ba1 foreign- and domestic-currency long-term issuer ratings and foreign-currency senior unsecured ratings on review for upgrade.

The decision to place the ratings on review for upgrade of Croatia's ratings by two notches to Baa2 was triggered off by the recommendation of the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council on 17 June proposing that Croatia adopt the euro as its domestic currency as of 1 January 2023.

Better rating = lower interest rate for loans, more attractive for foreign investment

[Jana]

Joining the Schengen Agreement in many ways I'd say is more of an attack on sovereignty than the single currency is.

It's extremely important for trade because countries outside of Schengen (currently Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia) are much less competitive since goods need to wait on borders and be checked.
Transport is much more lengthy thus uncompetitive.

How much Schengen matters for trade shows that non EU members like Switzerland and Norway are part of it.

Besides, I don't want to wait for crossing on our northern borders.

[Jankec]

Joining the Schengen Agreement in many ways I'd say is more of an attack on sovereignty than the single currency is.

We could notice that every country cares at first place of its own interests when there are serious problems. Suspension of Schengen in 2015. (migrant crisis) and Greek debt crisis in 2009. Especially Germany.

[Tooting Carmen]

It's extremely important for trade because countries outside of Schengen (currently Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia) are much less competitive since goods need to wait on borders and be checked.
Transport is much more lengthy thus uncompetitive.

How much Schengen matters for trade shows that non EU members like Switzerland and Norway are part of it.

Besides, I don't fucking want to wait for crossing on our northern borders.

From what I understand, Switzerland still imposes some restrictions on freedom of movement on EU citizens, which effectively violates Schengen, while Ireland has done perfectly well without joining Schengen at all.

[Jana]

From what I understand, Switzerland still imposes some restrictions on freedom of movement on EU citizens, which effectively violates Schengen, while Ireland has done perfectly well without joining Schengen at all.

Ireland is an island. Nonsense comparison. And Ireland wishes for as soft border with northern Ireland as possible.

No, being outside of Schengen is seriously hurting our economy and even quality of life like me waiting on Hungarian border for hours when traveling by train to Budapest.
If we join Schengen on Jan 1 as planned (but not confirmed) it will be a huge relief.

[Tooting Carmen]

Ireland is an island. Nonsense comparison. And Ireland wishes for as soft border with northern Ireland as possible.

Because (now whisper it) the Republic and the North are basically one country in all but name. (Certainly in the eyes of most Catholics on both sides of the border, at any rate).

No, being outside of Schengen is seriously hurting our economy and even quality of life like me waiting on Hungarian border for hours when traveling by train to Budapest.
If we join Schengen on Jan 1 as planned (but not confirmed) it will be a huge relief.

Even before Britain left the EU, we largely got round this by having French passport officers at St Pancras and British passport officers at Gare du Nord, which I believe is still the case now.

[Jana]

Because (now whisper it) the Republic and the North are basically one country in all but name. (Certainly in the eyes of most Catholics on both sides of the border, at any rate).

Even before Britain left the EU, we largely got round this by having French passport officers at St Pancras and British passport officers at Gare du Nord, which I believe is still the case now.

Your point being?

[Tooting Carmen]

Your point being?

Those cross-border train journeys needn't be so slow and inefficient if you find ways round it. (Couldn't you have Hungarian passport officers in Zagreb and Croatian passport officers in Budapest?)

Also, not long ago you spoke out strongly against pan-Europeanism, particularly in the context of the Ukrainian influx into Croatia. Were Ukraine also now an EU member, neither Croatia nor any other member state would be able to regulate their migratory flow whatsoever, at least beyond a set date.