Brussels, 27/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - At the end of the Ecofin Council, Commissioner Almunia confirmed that on Tuesday Malta had called for a specific evaluation of its convergence performance in view to adopting the Euro by 1 January 2008. The Maltese prime minister and minister for finance, Lawrence Gonzi, appeared confident and announced on Monday that this would effectively be his approach the following day. He informed journalists: “We have assessed the situation and the country has progressed in compliance with the objectives set out”. This request was expected, and should allow the Commission and European Central Bank (ECB) to examine (by May) how the Maastricht criteria have been respected. Following in Cyprus's footsteps, which had already made a request in February, the timetable and procedure to be followed will be the same for both countries (EUROPE 9356). Finance ministers will be called up in June, just before the European Council of 21-22 June. If heads of states and governments give their approval, the Ecofin Council will then give a decision on Malta entering the eurozone and set out the fixed and unchangeable conversion rates for the Maltese Lira and the Euro. Malta is expected to be able to bring its deficit to below 3% in 2006, and could come out of the excessive debt procedure shortly after publication of the Commission's spring forecasts in May 2007. The debt of the country remains above the 60% GDP threshold but is falling and is not expected to penalise the country's candidacy. As the case involving Lithuania demonstrated (refused Eurozone entry for this reason), inflation is the key issue demanding attention. (ab)