EC proposes eurozone membership for Estonia
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The European Commission proposed on Wednesday that Estonia has met all the conditions and was ready to adopt the euro at the beginning of 2011.
The European Commission said that of all the nine countries applied to join the eurozone, only Estonia met all the conditions as a result of determined and efficient efforts by the Estonian government and Estonian people.
"Estonia has achieved a high degree of sustainable economic convergence and is ready to adopt the euro on Jan. 1, 2011," said Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs.
"We commend Estonia for its long-standing commitment to prudent policies. To ensure that the adoption of the euro is a success, Estonia must pursue its efforts to maintain a prudent fiscal policy stance," Rehn said.
To join the eurozone, the candidate country must meet conditions regarding the government budgetary position, price stability, exchange rate stability and convergence of long-term interest rates, which need to be fulfilled in a sustainable manner, according to the European Commission.
And the national legislation on monetary affairs must also be in line with the EU Treaty.
The Council of EU finance ministers (ECOFIN) will take the final decision on the adoption of the euro in Estonia in July.
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