| Currency | Code | Central rate | Official target date |
Expected entry date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British pound | GBP
GIP |
— | Opt-out [nb 1] | Opt-out [nb 1] |
| Bulgarian lev | BGN | 1.95583[nb 2] | —[nb 3][1] | 2015 [2] |
| Czech koruna | CZK | — | —[nb 3][1] | 2017 [3] |
Danish krone |
DKK | 7.46038 | Opt-out[nb 4] | Opt-out [nb 4] |
| Hungarian forint | HUF | — | —[nb 3][1] | 2014 [3] |
| Latvian lats | LVL | 0.702804 | 1 January 2014 [4] | 2014 [5] |
| Lithuanian litas | LTL | 3.45280 | —[nb 3][1] | 2014 [6] |
| Polish złoty | PLN | — | —[nb 3][1] | 2015 [7][8] |
| Romanian leu | RON | — | 2015[9] | 2015 [9] |
| Swedish krona | SEK | —[nb 5] | —[nb 3] | — |
The euro convergence criteria (also known as the Maastricht criteria) are the criteria for European Union member states to enter the third stage of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and adopt the euro as their currency. The four main criteria are based on Article 121(1) of the European Community Treaty.
In 2009 the International Monetary Fund floated a suggestion that countries should be allowed to "partially adopt" the euro - adopting the currency but not qualifying for a seat on the European Central Bank (ECB).[10] Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City State are in a similar situation: they have adopted the euro and mint their own coins, but they do not have ECB seats.
For eurozone members, there is the Stability and Growth Pact which has similar requirements for budget deficit and debt. However some eurozone countries have without action from the EU severely violated these criteria (e.g. Greece 10.5 % deficit in 2010[11]), which has resulted in european sovereign debt crisis.
Contents |
1. Inflation rates: No more than 1.5 percentage points higher than the average of the three best performing member states of the EU.
2. Government finance:
3. Exchange rate: Applicant countries should have joined the exchange-rate mechanism (ERM II) under the European Monetary System (EMS) for two consecutive years and should not have devalued its currency during the period.
4. Long-term interest rates: The nominal long-term interest rate must not be more than 2 percentage points higher than in the three lowest inflation member states.
The purpose of setting the criteria is to maintain the price stability within the Eurozone even with the inclusion of new member states.
| Country[nb 6] | Inflation rate[nb 7] (HICP)[12] | annual government deficit to GDP | gross government debt to GDP | ERM II membership | Long-term interest rate [nb 8] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reference value[13] | max. 1% | max. 3% | max. 60% | min. 2 years | max. 6% |
|
|
|||||
| Bulgaria | 1.7% | 2.8% | 17.4% | 6.9% | |
| Czech Republic | 0.3% | 5.7% | 39.8% | 4.7% | |
| Denmark | 2.1% | −3.9%[nb 9] | 41.6% | since 1 January 1999 | 3.4% |
| Hungary | 4.8% | 4.1% | 78.9% | 8.4% | |
| Latvia | 0.1% | 8.6% | 48.5% | since 2 May 2005 | 12.7% |
| Lithuania | 2.0% | 8.4% | 38.6% | since 28 June 2004 | 12.1% |
| Poland | 3.9% | 7.3% | 53.9% | 6.1% | |
| Romania | 5.0% | 8.0% | 30.5% | 9.4% | |
| Sweden | 2.1% | 2.1% | 42.6% | 3.3% | |
| United Kingdom | 3.0% | 7.1% | 68.1% | 3.98% | |
|
|
|||||
| Albania | 3.3%[14] | 0.04% | 55.9% | ||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1.5% | 0.35% | 34% | ||
| Croatia | 1.8%[15] | 2.2% | 40.8% | ||
| Iceland | 1.8%[16] | −5.19%[nb 9] | 103% | ||
| Macedonia | 3.2% | 0.6% | 39.5% | ||
| Montenegro | 0.7%[17] | 38% | |||
| Norway[18] | 2%[19] | −17.27%[nb 9] | 53% | ||
| Serbia | 10.3%[20] | 0.48% | 37% | ||
| Switzerland[18] | 0.9% | −1.0%[nb 9][21] | 41.3%[22] | 1.46%[23] | |
| Turkey | 5.08% | −1.3%[nb 9] | 38.8% | ||