The Czech Republic’s government has acknowledged a joint recommendation from the Czech Republic Ministry of Finance and the Czech National Bank to refrain, for the time being, from setting a target date for adopting the euro. The recommendation is based on the 2025 assessment of the fulfilment of the Maastricht convergence criteria and the Czech Republic’s degree of economic alignment with the euro area. The assessment finds that in 2024 the Czech Republic met the interest rate convergence criterion and the government financial position criterion, but did not meet the price stability criterion due to a low reference value and persistently elevated growth of service prices. It is also formally non-compliant with the exchange rate fluctuation criterion because it is not part of the ERM II exchange rate mechanism. On broader economic preparedness, the assessment reports no substantial progress since 2023, citing obstacles including incomplete real convergence in price and wage levels, relatively low structural similarity with the euro area, and unresolved domestic structural issues alongside future pressures on public finances, including population ageing, infrastructure investment and the budgetary impact of planned large-scale projects such as high-speed rail and new nuclear units. Positive factors include the economy’s openness and close links with the euro area, some favourable labour market indicators such as low long-term unemployment, and the banking sector’s resilience to negative shocks. The euro area assessment highlights high heterogeneity, the implications of the energy crisis across Member States, generally weak fiscal positions, and ongoing institutional change and integration debates that make potential commitments associated with entry difficult to estimate.

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