Hoge inflatie kan tegen Europese landen werken die Euro willen aannemen (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - After a significant rise in inflation in Slovenia, the first of the new EU members to have adopted the euro, EU monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia i has indicated that Brussels will pay special attention to the ecnomic criteria ahead of the next round of the eurozone enlargement.
"We are more concerned now than we were two months ago about inflation, clearly", Mr Almunia said on Friday (9 November), adding that a price level increase is "particularly worrying" in the Baltic states, Bulgaria as well as in Greece and Slovenia.
According to the commissioner, Ljubljana represents "a particular matter of concern", as it was the first of the ten countries, which joined the EU bloc in 2004, to adopt the common currency at the beginning of this year.
Slovenia's consumer price inflation is expected to reach an average level of 3.5 percent in 2007 and 3.7 percent in 2008 - figures showing a significant jump compared to 2.5 percent in 2006.
"It's not a good example for other candidates...that once in the euro area, once the Maastricht criteria of inflation is fulfilled, the inflation goes up immediately after", commissioner Almunia said.
At the same time he acknowledged that "this inflation is not clearly linked with the membership in the eurozone", but caused mainly by increases in food and energy prices as well as by low competition in some sectors of the economy.
Eurozone-hopeful Slovakia getting nervous
But such statements are being closely monitored in Slovakia, next in line to join the single currency area in 2009.
The country's inflation is projected to drop to around 1.75 percent in 2007, according to the commission figures, but to jump back up to 2.5 percent in 2008 and three percent in 2009 - mainly due to higher electricity, water and food prices as well as a further increase in the excise taxes on cigarettes.
When asked about Slovakia's prospects, EU commissioner Almunia said that the commission will pay special attention to the medium-term outlook of inflation.
"The question of sustainability should be carefully considered when we will write our convergence report next spring", Mr Almunia said.
Slovak ambassador to the EU Maros Sefcovic has acknowledged that Slovenia's case is "not helping", but added that Bratislava has drafted a set of anti-inflation measures to be presented to the EU's executive body on 3 December.