LITHUANIA: Lithuania is hoping to win early approval from the EU to join the euro, clearing the way for it and Slovenia to become the newest members of the single currency area on January 1st, 2007.
Zigmantas Balcytis, Lith-uania's finance minister, hopes the EU will assess whether the Baltic state meets the membership rules in the early summer.
The proposed accession of new EU members will further undermine the dream of Jacques Chirac, France's president, to create a "core" Europe based around the single currency area, promoting more harmonisation in areas such as social and tax policy.
The arrival of liberal-minded new member states into the euro-club - mainly Atlanticist and supporters of open economies - will only add to the diverse nature of a club which is far from homogenous in its political and economic outlook. George Alogoskoufis, Greece's finance minister, said Mr Chirac's idea looked like a non-starter. "I feel we should be very cautious about divisive initiatives."
Mr Balcytis wants the European Commission and the European Central Bank to publish an early report on Lithuania's economy, while inflation is at its lowest point, rather than waiting until the scheduled reports of October.
"It would be quite a bad thing if we delayed our assessment," he said, arguing that higher energy prices and the cost of heating could push up inflation in the autumn.
"We hope our decision will be taken at the same time as Slovenia," he said. "In October it will be harder to meet the criteria." Eurozone applicants have to meet the so-called Maastricht criteria to adopt the euro, and the European Commission and ECB are warning that they will apply the economic rules strictly.