EU leaders, meeting on 21 June 2007, acknowledged that Cyprus and Malta fulfil all convergence criteria and legal requirements to adopt the euro as their currency and invited the countries to do so as from 1 January 2008. The EU's finance ministers, in their meeting on 10 July 2007, will fix the exchange rates for the Cyprus pound and the Maltese lira.
The entry into eurozone of Cyprus and Malta was proposed by the Commission on 16 May 2007 as the European Central Bank's (ECB) and Commission's convergence reports showed that the two countries now meet the necessary requirements concerning budget deficit, currency stability and interest-rate convergence for entry into the eurozone.
"Thanks to Economic and Monetary Union, the euro area has now enjoyed ten years of price stability and low interest rates. Following Slovenia in January this year, it will be the turn of Cyprus and Malta to adopt the euro in 2008 and to benefit from the same macro-economic stability and protection brought by the single currency. It is important that they make careful use of the next six months to ensure a smooth transition," said Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquín Almunia, welcoming the EU leaders' decision.
Meanwhile, the EU summit opened on 21 June amid intense diplomatic activity to persuade Poland into a compromise on the Council voting system. One of the proposals put forward by the French delegation is based on the so-called Ioannina compromise, whereas the Czech delegation has proposed a slight change in the double majority voting method suggesting to keep the at least 55% of member states but proposing that these 55% would need to represent only 62%, instead of 65%, of EU population.
