Brno workshops
The third event of our project took place in Brno, Czech Republic, on March 17, 2022. Over 30 participants of the lecture and workshops visited the Faculty of Business and Economics of Mendel University. This time the meeting was devoted to the common European currency – the euro – which is already the official currency in Slovakia, and which the Visegrad Group countries had agreed to introduce in the accession treaty.
The event was officially opened by prof. Lubor Lacina, a recognized authority on the euro currency and monetary policy. Then, an expert lecture was given by the Czech economist Tomáš Prouza, former employee of the World Bank and former Secretary of State for European Affairs, as well as Coordinator for the Introduction of the Euro in the Czech Republic in 2005-2006. The presentation entitled ‘V4 and euro (non) adoption. Political economy ”was devoted to the controversy related to the adoption of the common currency and its future in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
After the break, students presented the positions of their governments and societies regarding the adoption of the euro. The concerns and hopes related to the common currency were presented, as well as the real possibilities of its adoption, taking into account administrative procedures and political support. Finally, the positions of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were confronted with the experiences of Slovakia, which has been using the euro currency since 2009. As it turns out, many fears were exaggerated and Slovak society is satisfied with the euro.
In the last part of the event, students took part in a monetary policy simulation game led by Dr. Pavel Ziaran. Managing a single currency for such a large economic area is a big challenge and often collides with the interests of individual countries. The game was intended to show the dilemmas faced by governments and the European Central Bank in crisis situations, such as the debt crisis in the eurozone or lockdowns during a pandemic.
Conclusions from the workshop discussions will be included in the policy paper being prepared by students participating in the event.
As part of the preparations for the workshop, student groups prepared short clips about the position of V4 countries toward the euro. You can watch them by clicking on the links below: