In this year’s Report under Article 122 (2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community (the “Treaty”), the European Central Bank (ECB) uses the framework applied in the Convergence Report produced by the European Monetary Institute (EMI) in March 1998 to examine, with regard to Greece and Sweden, the achievement of a high degree of sustainable convergence, as well as compliance with the statutory requirements to be fulfilled in order for national central banks (NCBs) to become an integral part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).
With regard to Greece, it is also noted that the Minister of National Economy and Finance of Greece addressed a letter to the President of the ECB on 9 March 2000, requesting the evaluation of Greece’s application regarding the abrogation of its status as a Member State with a derogation.
Following the introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999, four EU Member States are not yet full participants in Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Two of these Member States, namely Denmark and the United Kingdom, have a special status. In accordance with the terms of the relevant protocols, annexed to the Treaty, concerning Denmark and the United Kingdom respectively, these countries gave notification that they would not participate in Stage Three of EMU on 1 January 1999. As a consequence, Convergence Reports for these two Member States only have to be provided if they so request. Since no such request has been made, this year’s Convergence Report covers only Greece and Sweden. [...]
