POLAND'S GOVERNMENT confirmed an ambitious timetable for adopting the euro on January 1st, 2012, despite resistance from the main opposition party, and said it would shortly start work on changing the constitution.
Prime minister Donald Tusk believes the current turmoil in global financial markets is a strong argument in favour of swift euro adoption, but he faces an uphill struggle persuading the Eurosceptic opposition to back his plans.
"Today, after approving the roadmap and informing the president, I would like to invite leaders of other parties to talk about the constitution and the euro," Mr Tusk told a news conference.
"I hope it will happen on Thursday or Friday," he said.
The current constitution stipulates that only the National Bank of Poland sets monetary policy. In the euro zone, the European Central Bank would take over this responsibility.
Under the euro roadmap published yesterday, the government will start work on the necessary constitutional amendments in November with a view to amending the charter in the first few months of 2009.
Poland will also negotiate with European Union institutions its planned entry into the European exchange rate mechanism (ERM-2) in the first half of next year, the roadmap said.
An applicant country must keep its currency in the ERM-2 trading band against the euro for at least two years before adopting the euro.
Mr Tusk said on Monday that Poland should enter ERM-2 by next June at the latest to meet its 2012 euro entry target.
The timetable envisages Poland meeting all criteria for euro membership in 2011 and setting its final euro exchange rate in August of that year.
"It is the intention of the government that Poland meets the nominal convergence criteria in 2011, which would reflect the economy's readiness to join the European area of the single currency," said a government statement.
The prime minister told reporters he believed the government could persuade president Lech Kaczynski, a conservative Eurosceptic, to back the euro adoption timetable.
"For the first time I heard from president Kaczynski words that allow me to believe this project will get acceptance, or at least that this will be treated seriously by him," Mr Tusk said after Mr Kaczynski chaired a meeting of the cabinet council.
In a separate news conference, Mr Kaczynski said he still doubted whether the euro plan was realistic but added that it could prove positive for Poland by offering greater stability for the economy and financial markets. He also called for further discussions on the issue. - (Reuters)
