Conclusions:

Accession to the Eurozone by 2012 or shortly afterwards is highly unlikely, as currently there is no influential interest group willing to push for quick adoption of the euro in the Czech Republic. However, euro accession rhetoric will continue to be used as a stick promoting the economic policy agenda of ODS (or the Czech Social Democratic Party 􀃽SSD, for that matter) even without any relation to the Maastricht criteria or a real willingness to join the Eurozone. Arguments employed in the debate show to what extent expert opinion on this seemingly technical matter is conditioned by political and ideological considerations and profit motivations. In the Czech Republic, as in other countries, a widespread myth of “independent experts” prevails. Because of this, it is rhetorically efficient to back whatever unpopular policy comes from “independent experts” mouthpieces, conceiving improbable relationships such as that between monetary union and labour legislature. Recently it was even proposed that not only monetary policy but fiscal policy should also be handed over to a body of “independent experts”, because “too much democracy is harmful to the economy” (Schneider 2005). On the other hand, the willingness of the Czech National Bank to bend its approach regarding the euro in whatever direction is required by the government shows that the decision to join the Eurozone is regarded as a political decision properly belonging to the sphere of governmental decisions (unlike setting interest rates).