Status
Sweden joined the European Union in 1995 and its accession treaty obliged it to join the euro. However, one of the requirements for eurozone membership is two years' membership of ERM II, and Sweden has chosen not to join this mechanism and as a consequence tie its exchange rate to the euro ±2.25%. While there is government support for membership, all parties have pledged not to join without a referendum in favour of doing so.
The Swedish krona is floating freely against other currencies, and no effort to stabilise the exchange rate is made by Sveriges Riksbank.
The EU has accepted that Sweden is staying outside the eurozone on its own decision. Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner for economic affairs has said that this is up to Swedish people to decide.
Despite this, the euro can be used to pay for goods and services in some places in Sweden. (See below.)
Sweden meets four of five criteria.
| Convergence criteria | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment month | Country | HICP inflation rate |
Budget deficit to GDP | Debt-to-GDP ratio | ERM II member | Long-term interest rate |
| 2012 ECB Report | Reference values | max. 3.1% |
max. 3.0% |
max. 60% |
min. 2 years |
max. 5.80% |
| Sweden | 1.3% | -0.3% | 38.4% | No | 2.23% | |
| April 2013 | Reference values | max. 2.5% |
max. 3.0% |
max. 60% |
min. 2 years |
max. 4.81% |
| Sweden | 0.8% | 0.5% | 38.2% | No | 1.61% | |
- Notes
Read more about this topic: Sweden And The Euro
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