CONFIDENCE IN THE EURO: EVIDENCE FROM CEE EUROZONE CANDIDATES

Recently, the Economic and Monetary Union has been facing various threats that affect the confidence of its members. It is crucial to maintain high levels of trust in the Eurozone in order to avoid rising polarities and to support cooperation between countries. The Eurobarometer reports reveal the public opinion in member states, allowing us to carry a comparative analysis between our chosen nations: Romania, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. These form a unique combination of CEE Eurozone candidates that have seldomly been studied systematically, all of them using a floating exchange rate. This paper analyzes the use of the euro and level of information, opinions about introducing the euro, and expectations for introducing the euro. Having accurate and transparent information is a key ingredient for increasing confidence in the euro and making the transition process seamless. Making this information widely available and taking the time to educate the population is also crucial. The analysis shows that Hungary has the highest number of poorly informed people, while the Czech Republic does really well in this regard. However, the largest number of people that support the euro adoptions comes from Hungary, while most Czechs are against it. This paradox can prove to be detrimental to the success of the transition in the candidate countries.