Prague Blog: The Crown-ic

The Czech Republic has been a member of the European Union since 2004, when they joined with fellow former Soviet bloc countries Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and a few other Eastern European nations. Still, the Czech Republic hasn't caught on to the Euro and still uses it's Czech koruna (crown).

Everything here is priced in crowns, which can be confusing at first, since the exchange rate is somewhere around 1 dollar to 15 crowns. It doesn't sound so bad to buy a Coke for 30 Kc, but it makes determining whether you are getting ripped off for a taxi or a souvenir a little difficult.

Apparently, the Czech Republic will be able to start using the Euro in 2019, but there's nothing I've heard that indicates they will decide to do so. I have spent a lot of this trip figuring out the future of the Czech Republic and the EU, but it all depends on some major factors (of which I will discuss later in the series) as to the relationship between the EU and member states, currency included. My prediction is that the Czech National Bank will adopt the Euro as the economic ties of Europe continue to strengthen.