Polish euro coins
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Polish euro coins have not yet been designed.
Poland has been a member of the European Union since May 2004, and is a member of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union but has not completed the third stage of the EMU and therefore still uses its own currency, the Polish złoty.
Currently, there is no official information on the design process for the Polish national sides, though it has been indicated that some kind of public vote will be used.
Controversially, Poland has not yet set an official target date for introduction of the euro, which led to much criticism from the EU Commission. Under the terms of the Treaty of Accession 2003, all New Member States "shall participate in the Economic and Monetary Union from the date of Accession as a Member State with a derogation", which means that Poland is obliged to introduce the euro. It should be noted, however, that Sweden is technically also obliged to introduce the euro, which is not planned to be reconsidered until 2010 after a referendum in 2003 resulted in a clear "no". It has been warned however, that any move similar to that of Sweden in the new states will not be tolerated, as it has been with Sweden.
The adoption of the euro is integral part of the Treaty of Accession 2003. A referendum on this accession has already been held in Poland, on June 7-8 2003, but no separate referendum has been held on the adoption of the euro specifically.
On January 17, 2006, Polish Finance Minister Zyta Gilowska said in an interview that Poland will not adopt the euro before 2010, adding that 2011 was an achievable deadline. In October 2006, the Polish President Lech Kaczyński said in an interview with Spain's El Mundo that euro entry "should be a subject submitted to a referendum, which would take place at the end of my legislature, which ends in 2010" adding "and I speak of the referendum, not of the introduction of the euro." He commented that joining the euro would be "a limitation of the sovereignty [of Poland]" and said that "the euro is still an experiment and it will be necessary to observe if it works well...its introduction can cause inflation and lower the standard of life."
Recently after a meeting with EU finance chief Joaquin Almunia in Brussels Polish Finance Minister Zyta Gilowska said "The question which might be raised is not if, but when we will join the euro." Gilowska said that "2009 would be a good year" to hold a referendum on the adoption of the euro. [1]
