Slovakia on Tuesday became the second eastern European country after Slovenia to receive formal approval to adopt the euro. It will convert its currency on January 1. However, as political commitment among some of the older European Union members to the “European project” wanes, so too has the enthusiasm of newer entrants for its currency. Investors have not yet taken the implications on board.

Signing up to EU membership means signing up to the euro, even if some countries, such as Sweden and the UK, have yet to do so. But the will to adopt the currency among eastern Europe’s accession countries has weakened. In Hungary and the Czech Republic there is little political support for moving to an official timetable for euro adoption. The Polish government, widely expected to adopt the euro in 2012-13, has yet to present a credible plan for accession to the second version of the European exchange rate mechanism – a necessary precondition.