an immediate requirement for the eu - entry, but rather as an objective of central banks during the period of erm ii participation. but to stick to it and it's definition as formulated in the maastricht treaty is a must. the eurosystem ’ s policy position that nominal and real convergence should be pursued in parallel and that accession countries should strive to achieve price stability in the medium term is very sensible. over the past few years, there has been significant diversity in the monetary policy and exchange rate strategies of accession countries. over this period, the euro has become the main reference currency for most of these countries, including those operating managed floating regimes. in the pre - accession phase, the consistency of the exchange rate strategy with other macroeconomic policies and objectives will take precedence over the choice whether to reduce existing exchange rate flexibility. however, a certain degree of exchange rate orientation toward the euro would be in line with further economic and financial integration and would also be consistent with the prospect of erm ii entry. erm ii arrangements should not necessarily be seen as a „ waiting room “ prior to the adoption of the euro, but as a flexible framework for the achievement of further convergence. in particular, real convergence can help promote both economic cohesion within emu and integration between member states, thereby supporting efforts to minimize the risk and the effects of asymmetric shocks. ladies and gentlemen, this morning the discussions focused on the role of the financial sector. this sector is predestined to provide a key contribution to speeding up real convergence in accession countries. significant progress has been made over the past years in rehabilitating banking sectors and encouraging foreign ownership. the latter has also contributed to greater microeconomic integration with the eu. but financial sectors are still relatively small and some segments are underdeveloped. creating conditions for the sound expansion of the intermediating role of the banking sector remains fundamental to promote the efficient use of capital and sustained growth. progress in corporate governance and the enhancement of the legal frameworks that support the banking sector would also be conducive to achieving the macroeconomic objectives of the accession countries. looking ahead to an enlarged european union, it will be even more important in the future than today to keep up the momentum of existing convergence processes and to promote them further. nominal as well as real convergence are key ingredients of regional and social cohesion and thus, stability, in our union and the euro area. i am looking forward to the final session this

attaining functional independence. all the accession countries have either revised their central bank acts in the past few years or are amending them so as to meet the eu requirements. so far, progress has been considerable. in addition to the revision of the respective central bank statutes, it is also important to ensure that the revised laws are indeed fully implemented and that central bank independence is not only ensured formally but also respected in the day - to - day conduct of policy. the process of adjusting the central bank statutes has not been smooth in all cases. more recently, the parliaments in hungary and poland have discussed or introduced amendments to their respective central bank statutes that could de facto limit the degree of central bank independence. the passage of amendments that, in substance, weaken central banks in their pursuit of price stability would cause serious concerns in the accession process. moreover, great importance should be attached to responsibility, accountability and transparency as a counterpart of independence. to sum up : the accession countries have made remarkable progress over the past few years in macroeconomic stabilization. the prospect of eu accession and - thereafter - adoption of the euro has already served as an anchor for all policy areas concerned. nevertheless a crucial point on the path toward eu and emu membership is the development of a " stability culture, " i. e. reaching a broad consensus within a country that the principal and most important task of monetary policy is to ensure price stability - a necessary condition for sustainable growth and hence for the catching - up process. this primacy of stability has to be recognized and accpted by all relevant political forces, which in turn calls for the respective central banks to do a lot of explaining and convincing - a process that has to start as early as possible. without such a consensus, a successful integration into the union, and even more so into the euro area, cannot be achieved or will be very difficult, to say the least. therefore, this " convergence of minds " is just as important as the other formal convergence criteria. finally, i would like to mention that future membership of accession countries'central banks in the escb and the eurosystem requires not only a strengthening of central banking policies, but also significant technical preparation, for instance, of payment and securities settlement systems, in the field of statistics, and it. ladies and gentlemen! let me stress that i welcome the conclusions of the seville european council meeting which renewed the commitment of the european union as well as of the individual member states to the enlargement process.