with participation in erm ii being only one element of the overall policy framework in the process towards full monetary integration. in a document published at the end of last year, the governing council set out in detail the principles which will guide the prospective participation of new member states in erm ii and later their adoption of the euro. once these countries are deemed to have fulfilled the conditions set by the treaty, they will adopt the euro. by definition this will mark the end of the “ international ” role of the euro in these countries and lay the groundwork for a fully fledged “ domestic ” role of the single currency there. in the years ahead, we will work hard to ensure that this process of fully integrating new member states into our common monetary area will unfold smoothly. over the last few years we prepared intensively for enlargement. now it is time to reap the mutual benefits of a wider union, in particular with the expanded internal market providing new opportunities for trade and investment flows. this can have a significantly positive impact on growth in the european economy. i am convinced that, with enlargement, prosperity will increase and living standards improve across the whole union. thank you for your attention.

hand and private agents on the other. let me start with public authorities. there are about 50 countries with an exchange rate regime linked to the euro, including those eu member states that have not yet joined the euro area. non - eu countries that use the euro as an anchor currency are mainly located in the eu ’ s neighbouring regions or are countries that have established special institutional arrangements with the eu or some of the eu member states, like the cfa zone in africa. in most of these countries, the euro is also the main or the sole intervention currency used by the authorities to stabilise the exchange rates of their respective currencies. additionally, in these countries euro - denominated assets account for a substantial share of the foreign exchange reserves held by the respective authorities. globally, at the end of 2002, the euro ’ s share in foreign exchange reserve assets was close to one - fifth. turning to private users, the internationalisation of the euro has been most visible in global capital markets, in particular when it comes to the role of the euro as an international financing currency. since the start of stage three of emu, the stock of euro - denominated debt securities issued by noneuro area residents has risen by around eur 800 billion. this represents an increase in the share of the euro in the stock of international bonds from around 20 % in 1999 to more than 30 % in 2003, while the share of dollar - denominated bonds has remained stable at around 45 %. a significant share of euro - denominated securities have been targeted at, and purchased by, euro area investors. in using the euro as an issuance currency, financial institutions and corporations, mainly from mature economies, most notably the united states and the united kingdom, have taken advantage of the greater size and liquidity provided by the increasingly integrated euro - denominated bond markets. besides the international financial markets, there is also evidence that the euro is increasingly being used as a settlement or invoicing currency in euro area countries ’ trade with non - euro area residents. for example, the share of the euro in the settlement and invoicing of spain ’ s extra - euro area exports rose from 49 % in 2000 to close to 58 % in 2002. similar increases were recorded for france and for belgium and luxembourg. the use of the euro was most pronounced in settling and invoicing trade with the so - called “ pre - ins ” ( the united kingdom, sweden and denmark ), the