The European Commission said Tuesday that Slovenia is now ready to adopt the euro on Jan. 1, 2007 as it has met all criteria.

The executive body of the European Union (EU) made such a proposal based on its Convergence Report of Slovenia.

The final decision will be taken by EU finance ministers in July, after consultation of the European Parliament, and following a discussion by EU heads of state and government at their summit in June.

"Slovenia meets all the convergence criteria, an achievement which results from a track record of stability-oriented policies and reforms and leads the commission to propose that it adopts the euro in January 2007," said Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia.

He said the euro brings huge benefits but also important responsibilities in terms of preserving both the macroeconomic stability and a country's competitiveness in a single monetary environment. Therefore, Slovenia must not see the adoption of the euro as the end of its efforts.

Slovenia must also now speed up and finalize the crucial practical preparations to ensure a smooth changeover, including measures to avoid unjustified price increases, he said.

In a separate convergence report for Lithuania, the European Commission concluded that the Baltic country is still not ready for the single European currency.

"Lithuania meets all the convergence criteria except the one on inflation," said Almunia.

Inflation has been slightly above the reference value since April 2005 and is expected to rise gradually until the end of the year, he said.

The commission is required to assess the readiness for the euro of the 10 member states, which joined the EU in 2004, at least every two years or at the request of a member state.

The two countries requested assessment in March.

Source: Xinhua