Estonia joins the euro-family

Today the Council has taken the formal decision which will pave the way for the introduction of the euro in Estonia as of 1 January 2011 and will become the 17th European Union country to share the euro currency.

“Estonia has achieved a high degree of sustainable economic convergence and is ready to adopt the euro on 1 January 2011. 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. Estonia needs also to remain vigilant and react early and decisively in case signs of build-up of macroeconomic imbalances and/or losses of competitiveness were to appear. Estonia must now continue with its practical preparations to ensure that the changeover takes place smoothly”, said Olli Rehn, EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs.

The official conversion rate is set to be 15.6466 kroons per 1 EUR.