On 1 January 2007, Slovenia was the first new EU member state to enter the euro area. Since June 2004 the Slovenian tolar participated in the exchange rate mechanism ERM-II with a central parity of 239.64 against the euro. This parity was also the conversion rate upon euro area accession....

Since May 2004, Slovenia has been a member state of the European Union. Although trade barriers had been removed to a large extent with the progressing accession negotiations, participation in the EU is further fostering the European economic integration of the new member states. One important...