All Eurozone Candidates Fail to Fulfill Entry Criteria - EU Commission

None of the seven states of the European Union (EU), which apply for membership of the eurozone, meet all the necessary criteria for entry into the euro-currency bloc, the European Commission (EC) said on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The 2016 Convergence Report further revealed that all member states, except Sweden, meet the price stability, criterion, all but Croatia fulfill the criterion on public finances and none of them fulfills the exchange rate criterion. It further found that all examined member states fulfill the long-term interest rate criterion, but that legislation is not fully compatible with the European Monetary Union (EMU) rules in most of the member states covered, except Croatia.

"This year's report covers the seven Member States that are legally committed to adopt the euro: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden. The Member States covered in the report have made progress with convergence, but none of them currently meet all conditions for euro adoption," the European Commission said in a statement published on its website.

The convergence criteria, sometimes referred to as the Maastricht criteria, are listed in the article 140 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). They include price stability, sound public finances, exchange rate stability, convergence in long-term interest rates and the compatibility of national legislation with EMU rules is also assessed.

The EC report on the progress of countries toward the eurozone is published every two years, or at the specific request of a candidate country. If it shows that a state fulfills all the necessary criteria, the procedure for consideration of its entry into the euro-currency bloc is initiated.

The EC report 2016 Convergence Report did not give any information as to Denmark and the United Kingdom that are the EU members, but are not obliged to join.