Barroso, Prodi and Trichet for euro celebrations

European dignitaries and delegations start arriving in Malta today for the official euro celebrations taking place tomorrow.

The executive director of the National Euro Changeover Committee, Alan Camilleri, said yesterday the celebrations will start with a state lunch and will include a concert by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied by soprano Miriam Gauci and tenor Joseph Calleja under the direction of conductor Michael Laus at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta.

The dignitaries will include the President of the European Commission Josè Manuel Barroso; the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet; the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joaquin Almunia; Maltese European Commissioner Joe Borg; the vice president of the European Parliament, Mario Mauro; European Council president Dimitrij Rupel (Slovenia's Foreign Minister); the president of the Euro Group, Jean Claude Juncker (Prime Minister of Luxembourg) and the Prime Ministers of Italy, Slovakia and Belgium, Romano Prodi, Robert Fico and Guy Verhofstadt, respectively.