The European Council on Wednesday decided to allow Lithuania to adopt the euro as its currency.

Euro notes and coins will be issued in Lithuania from January 1, 2015.

EU's Council of Ministers gave the final green light for Lithuania joining the currency union, following the overwhelming endorsement by the European Parliament, and the European Commission's report on Lithuania's practical preparations for the changeover to the euro.

The "14th Report on the practical preparations for the future enlargement of the euro area," published on Wednesday, confirmed that preparations for Lithuania to join the euro area are proceeding well, although there is room for progress in some areas.

The decision will enlarge the euro area to 19 member states, including all three Baltic states, and give Lithuania over five months to prepare for the changeover.

The Council also adopted regulations setting a permanent conversion rate for the Lithuanian litas to the euro, and adapting certain technical provisions.

The conversion rate is set at 3.45280 Lithuanian litas to the euro, which corresponds to the current central rate of the litas in the EU's exchange rate mechanism.

"The entry of Lithuania into the euro family is not only a crucial event for this partner country, but it is of great importance for the whole eurozone", said Sandro Gozi, State Secretary for European Affairs of Italy and President of the Council of the EU." It's a demonstration of the continuing

attractiveness of the single currency project and its relevance for the future of our community," he added.

"Lithuania's consistent efforts have paid off: today the eurozone has opened the door for us", said Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius. "The adoption of the euro has been Lithuania's strategic step, well thought-out economically and politically, to foster national economic growth," Sandro Gozi stated.

"Lithuania's accession to the single European currency will strengthen the EU's Economic and Monetary Union. Deeper euro integration means greater security as well," according to Butkevicius.

Two-yearly reports from the Commission and from the ECB assess the readiness of non-euro member states to adopt the euro. The most recent reports confirm the progress made by Lithuania in fulfilling the convergence criteria - namely price stability, the government's budgetary position, exchange rate stability and long-term interest rates - and several other factors.

Eighteen of the 28 EU member states currently have the euro as their currency. Latvia was the latest to join the Eurozone, by introducing Euro banknotes and coins on January 1, 2014.

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