A small but notable victory was celebrated at the end of January at the London Stock Exchange: a ceremony to mark the first euro depositary receipt to be listed on the exchange.
Yet it was not an up-and-coming euroland issuer that won the accolade, nor even a company from one of the four remaining EU countries yet to join monetary union.
Instead it was Zagrebacka Banka, Croatia's largest commercial bank.
The bank had already issued the paper in June 1996 and transferred the listing in December 1998. It converted to euros on January 4.
Attending the ceremony were the chairman of the bank's managing board, Franjo Lukovic, and the chairman of the London Stock Exchange, Sir John Kemp-Welch.