European Parliament approval on euro expected today

The European Parliament is today expected to give its thumbs-up to the adoption of the euro by Malta from January.

The vote comes in time for EU leaders meeting tomorrow in Brussels to discuss the Commission's recommendation issued last month clearing the way for the island to join the eurozone.

MEPs meeting during their plenary session in Strasbourg will this morning hold a vote on an opinion drafted by German MEP Werner Langen.

According to EU rules, the European Parliament is to be consulted over the enlargement of the eurozone and has to give its opinion to the European Council.

The Malta report has already been discussed by the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee of the European Parliament which on Monday night voted unanimously in favour.

The two Maltese MEPs sitting on the committee, David Casa and Joseph Muscat voted in favour and told The Times following the vote that they were very satisfied with the committee's conclusions. "The unanimous approval of the Langen report confirms that Malta is on the right track and that this positive achievement consolidates our success in the European Union," Mr Casa said.

According to Mr Muscat, "the vote in favour of Malta's adoption of the euro is consistent with our policy of putting national interest first. I am satisfied that the European People's Party has dropped its procedural opposition to the process, which could have undermined our country's economic stability".

Originally, the rapporteur, Werner Langen was threatening to postpone the vote on Malta and Cyprus as a sign of protest against the Commission for not giving enough time to the European Parliament to draw up its opinion. However he later changed his position as the Commission promised to give more time to MEPs at the next round of the euro area enlargement.

Following Parliament's vote today, the Commission's recommendation will be discussed by EU leaders during their summit meeting starting tomorrow. If an agreement is reached, the final decision will be taken by the Economic and Finance Ministers Council meeting scheduled for July 10, where the irrevocable conversion parity rate between the euro and the lira is fixed.