With the commission’s approval, Estonia is poised to become the euro area’s 17th member in January, and the third former communist state after Slovenia and Slovakia to join the currency union. Estonia’s euro accession represents a “test case” showing how willing the euro area’s key members are to continue with enlargement, Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said today.

Ivari Padar, member of the European Parliament and former finance minister, said he welcomed the assessment by the European Commission and European Central Bank that the state of government finances and the development of Estonia’s economy are on a level allowing Estonia to begin joining the eurozone.

The Commission estimates that Estonia’s budget deficit this year will be 2.4 percent of gross domestic product, smaller than all existing euro members’ shortfalls.

http://balticbusinessnews.com/article/2010/05/12/EC_recommends_to_accept_Estonia_into_eurozone