Following the 2004 enlargement of the European Union, accession to the Eurozone seemed to be a natural political choice for all the new Member States. The widespread conviction was that participation in the single currency is a natural next step that would stabilise the economy and create solid foundations for stimulating trade and investments. The economic literature supported it. A vast majority of economists and textbooks authors saw much more benefits than costs of having the euro. The opinions, such as those of Milton Friedman, who claimed that the adoption of the euro would lead to growing economic and political tensions inside between the monetary union states, were rare.
