EU finance ministers gave the final formal approval to Estonian membership at the ECOFIN council today.
Estonia, which has a population of 1.3m, will adopt the euro as its national currency on 1 January next.
It is the first Baltic state and the first former Soviet republic to join the euro.
Estonia has long had its kroon currency fixed against the euro in a currency board at 15.6466 kroon to €1.
Finance ministers have agreed to keep that exchange rate as the final conversion rate.



















