We study the impact of the euro on emerging European countries by investigating three country groups: (1) seventeen Eurozone countries, (2) seven eu Eastern and Central European (ECE) members using local currencies, and (3) six EU candidates. We analyze macroeconomic indicators and propose models to investigate whether similar or different indicators influence sovereign debt for each group. We find that exports and unemployment are positively related to sovereign debt while market capitalization shows negative relation with sovereign debt. We argue that the recent European sovereign debt crisis has raised serious challenges for the Eurozone, and propose that EU ECE members and EU candidates delay the adoption of the euro
