ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

The Baltic republic of Estonia is on course to adopt the euro in January 2011, the European Commission has said. The recommendation still requires the approval of all 27 EU member states however, 16 of which are in the eurozone.

The Commission assessed the potential of nine EU countries to adopt the euro, and found "Estonia stands out... fulfilling the criteria clearly". The other eight countries evaluated were Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden. EU commissioner for economic and monetary affairs Olli Rehn said Estonia's deficit and debt were well within the acceptable limits set by the Maastricht Treaty that launched the single currency.

The euro has come under huge pressure in money markets in recent months, amid fears that Greece's budget crisis could undermine other eurozone countries laden with big deficits.