Croatians probably bet that the EU will - eventually - deliver on its promises.
Its not a crazy assumption.
The repeated existential crises might convince Europeans of their joint destiny. The result could be a prosperous, peaceful continent that is a role model for how people can coexist.
Welcome. 2023 starts with some good karma.
The biggest differences besides the different banknotes is that exchange rate risk has been eliminated, interest rates have gone down and Croatia's credit rating has gone up.
I'm not suggesting for one minute that Croatia now is in the same state as Greece was 20 years ago. but improved credit rating based on the idea that the currency is effectively backed by the German and French economy, was one of the reasons for the debt crisis. German and French banks loaned them money that they shouldn't have, knowing that they would get bailed out.
Good luck to them though. It seems to have a similar population size to Scotland, so is interesting in terms of the independence debate in the UK.
Croatia has a good credit rating because it's shown fiscal restraint, but for the given good work it's done on it's fiscal position, it's now getting an even lower rate.If Croatians started acting like Greece, that wouldn't be the case. Investors have learned their lesson.
Not having to deal with surly border guards is also a significant bonus.
Turns out that immigration is at the booth, then the guy standing around ahead is the customs guy you're supposed pull ahead and stop for. Oops.
Looking forward to using some of the "EU traffic only" backroads crossings into Croatia that were inaccessible to me.
Hopefully nobody asks for proof of all my "visits" to Andorra ;)
When EU countries could have been forging ahead, building on the natural base of social democracy and technological advancement, e.g. to become world leaders in future energy . Instead they have spend 20 years dealing with the internal inconsistencies and self imposed limitations of a single currency without a single fiscal / monetary policy.
I don't see it changing, but who knows.
EDIT. I do wish people would post counterpoint, rather than vote down something that I explicitly stated was my own humble opinion, and indeed ended on a conciliatory sentence. Down votes really should be used for trolling, or off topic to the poster they are replying to, not as a lazy way of replying.
If anything the local population that does not yet have the euro for everything is being scalped by their banks: debts are in euros but income is in the much weaker local currency. Most of them can't wait to switch but the access criteria are still fairly strict. Yes, the exporters also have a benefit: mostly because of the enlargement of the single market. But this is still within Europe, the comparison should be with the countries outside of Europe and then suddenly being part of a larger trade bloc with a single currency is a huge advantage.