http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB114221327193696196-Hc60xdA8RzgAFRbhBLX79NisaFA_20060320,00.html?mod=regionallinks

Almost all of the European Union's new members once shared the goal of joining the bloc's single currency as soon as possible. That sense of urgency has evaporated among the larger entrants, as elections in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia are expected to show.

Instead, they place a premium on rapid economic expansion, fueled in part by government spending, to narrow the gap between per-capita incomes in the new and older members of the bloc, forgoing the currency stability and improved investment climate that a single currency would afford.

All 10 EU members that joined in May 2004 -- most from Eastern Europe -- pledged to adopt the euro when they meet the criteria in the Maastricht Treaty, which at the time was expected to be around the end of the decade. Of all of them, only Slovenia meets the treaty's criteria.

In the larger members, popular support for the required reduction in budget deficits has waned, an attitude the governments emerging from this year's elections in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia are expected to reflect.

Of the three, Hungary appears furthest from adopting the euro because of its budget deficit. To join the euro zone, it must reduce its deficit to no more than 3% of gross domestic product, among other things. Its budget gap was more than twice that in 2005 and is forecast to rise to almost 10% this year, the country's central bank said.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia share similar uncertainty about the exact timing of their entry into the euro zone. Both face general elections in June, with opinion polls favoring parties that have criticized budget cuts.