Report from the Commission (prepared in accordance with Article 122(2) of the Treaty). Convergence report 2008.

Abstract

Article 122(2) of the Treaty requires the Commission and the ECB to report to the Council, at least once every two years, or at the request of a Member State with a derogation, on the progress made by the Member States in fulfilling their obligations regarding the achievement of economic and monetary union. The latest Commission and ECB regular Convergence Reports were adopted in December 20061. Denmark and the United Kingdom have not expressed their wish to adopt the single currency. Therefore, this convergence assessment covers the following ten Member States with a derogation: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden. Having joined the EU on 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania are examined for the first time. A more detailed assessment of the state of convergence in the ten countries is provided in a Technical Annex to this report (SEC(2008) 567). In parallel, on 4 April 2008 Slovakia submitted a request for an assessment of the fulfilment of the necessary conditions to adopt the euro on 1 January 2009.