Euro zone countries recommend Latvia membership

The 17 euro zone member states Friday adopted a recommendation in favour of a proposal to allow Latvia to join the euro zone on 1 January 2014. The announcement came following a meeting of euro area finance ministers in Luxembourg Thursday night. The ministers in a statement today said they agreed with the European Commission's assessment that Latvia has achieved a high degree of sustainable convergence and therefore fulfils the necessary conditions for adoption of the euro as its currency. The Council which represents the EU governments is expected to adopt the decision in July, after consulting the European Parliament and following a discussion in the meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on 27 and 28 June.