Danuta Huebner

“Poland has a chance of joining the euro in 2015,” Danuta Huebner, a member of the European Parliament and former EU Commissioner for Regional Policy has told Polish Radio in an exclusive interview.

The comment comes as eurozone leaders are to meet behind closed doors during a one-day summit in Brussels, Friday.

“It is possible [for Poland] to enter the eurozone in 2015,” Huebner told Polish Radio reporter Michal Kubicki, adding that Poland is keen to prevent a two-speed Europe developing.

“Some people in Western Europe say Poland will not be able to make it before 2020. I think [that] would not be good for Poland. All the economic factors which are the arguments for joining the euro as fast as possible are still valid,” Huebner maintains.

“We in Poland are concerned that [a] Europe of two speeds could develop because the eurozone is now entering the period of profound reforms of economic governance, of much deeper intergation and much stronger coordination of fiscal policies,” the EU Regional Commissioner says, adding that the euro as a single currency cannot have 17 different fiscal policies.

“This is a challenge for Poland – how to avoid this new division,” she concludes. (jb)