Convergence report : June 2024

The euro has already been introduced in 20 of the 27 EU Member States. This report examines six of the seven Member States that have yet to adopt the single currency, namely Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden. These countries are committed under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter the "Treaty") to adopt the euro, which implies that they must strive to fulfil all the convergence criteria. The seventh Member State, Denmark, in 1992 notified the Council of the European Union (EU Council) of its intention not to participate in Stage Three of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). This means that Convergence Reports need only be provided for Denmark if it so requests. Given that no such request has been submitted, Denmark is not covered in this report. In producing this report, the ECB fulfils its requirement under Article 140 of the Treaty. Article 140 states that at least once every two years, or at the request of an EU Member State with a derogation, the ECB and the European Commission must report to the EU Council "on the progress made by the Member States with a derogation in fulfilling their obligations regarding the achievement of economic and monetary union". The six countries under review in this report have been examined as part of the regular two-year cycle. The European Commission has also prepared a report, and both reports are being submitted to the EU Council in parallel. In this report, the ECB uses the framework applied in its previous Convergence Reports. It examines, for the six countries concerned, whether a high degree of sustainable economic convergence has been achieved, whether the national legislation is compatible with the Treaties and the Protocol on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter the "Statute of the ESCB"), and whether the statutory requirements are fulfilled for the relevant national central bank (NCB) to become an integral part of the Eurosystem.