Topic Highlights: Convergence criteria
The Maastricht treaty foresees five criteria that Member States must adhere to in order to take part in the third phase of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and thus introduce the Euro currency:
- the ratio of the government deficit to the gross domestic product (GDP) must be below 3%;
- the ratio of consolidated government gross debt to GDP must be below 60%;
- the average inflation rate in the year prior to accession mustn't be more than 1.5 percentage points above the inflation of the three best performing Member States;
- the average long term interest rates mustn't exceed the rates of the three best performing countries in terms of price stabilitby by more than 2 percentage points; the observance of the normal margins of the exchange rate mechanism of the EMS without severe tensions or devaluation for 2 years.
Press release of the European Parliament
MEPs back Slovenia's euro ambitions: Press release of the European Parliament on the eurozone enlargement in January 2007.Access to the press release
Eurostat data
Summary table on convergence criteria: Here you can access a time series with the relevant indicators in Excel format.Download table
Bar chart on government deficit: General government net borrowing / net lending in per cent of GDP is presented in a bar chart for all EU Member States.
Access to the bar chart
Harmonised consumer price index: Data on this topic is included in the Eurostat online database - also available: data broken down by the classification of individual consumption COICOP.
Access to the Eurostat online database: Prices
Pre-defined table: Harmonised consumer price index - annaul rate of change
General government net borrowing/lending and consolidated government gross debt: Data on the two criteria, that both established and aspiring eurozone Member States must adhere to, can be found in the Eurostat online database.
Access to the Eurostat online database: Government deficit and debt
Pre-defined table: General government net borrowing/lending
Pre-defined table: Consolidated government gross debt
Long-term interest rates: Data on the annual average yields on 10-year government bonds on the secondary market.
Access to the Eurostat online database: interest rates
Pre-defined table: Long-term interest rates on government bonds
Eurostat Publications
EC Economic Data Pocketbook: Quarterly publication with a wide range of economic strucrtural indicators on topics such as public finance, labour market, interest rates and foreign trade.Access to the pocketbook
Statistics in Focus: Booklets on the Maastricht convergence criteria: These 8 page booklets are available free-of-charge as PDF downloads.
Structure of government debt in Europe - 2004 data
Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices April 2006
General government expenditure and revenue in the EU in 2004
Publication on Eurostat methodology: A publication with background information on the calculation of government deficit and consolidated gross debt.
To the PDF publication
Press releases: The most important Eurostat press relases on inflation and public finance.
15.06.2006 Euro area annual inflation up to 2.5%
24.04.2006 Euro-zone and EU25 government deficit fall to 2.4% and 2.3% of GDP respectively
