confidence in the respective banking systems. concluding remarks let me conclude by focusing on the prospects. to a large extent, these prospects can be summarised in just a few words : progress towards eu membership. of course, countries in the region are at very different stages in their path towards eu membership, which is reflected in their different status as candidate and potential candidate countries. indeed, bulgaria and romania are expected to sign the accession treaty next year whereas other countries are still preparing negotiations on stabilisation and report by the ( ecofin ) council to the european council in nice on the exchange rate aspects of enlargement, brussels, 8 november 2000, council of the european union press release no. 13055 / 00. also reiterated in “ policy position of the governing council of the european central bank on exchange rate issues relating to the acceding countries, ” frankfurt, 18 december 2003, www. ecb. int. association agreements. moreover, there are not only economic, but also political criteria countries have to pass to transform the current eu perspective into real progress towards association or accession. let me also emphasise that the ecb and the eurosystem as a whole is a contributor to this process, not least through the provision of technical assistance. cooperation among central banks has involved twinning projects - led by some eurosystem national central banks in particular banque de france, banca d ’ italia and de nederlandsche bank - with the bulgarian national bank and the national bank of romania, as well as visits and training, all geared towards sharing information and know - how. it has taken place in a large number of areas, such as payment systems, supervision and financial stability, statistics, central bank operations, etc. looking ahead, such technical assistance will continue to intensify as countries progress towards aligning themselves with eu regulations and directives. also the joint vienna institute, co - sponsored by the oenb, has played a crucial role in offering training opportunities to staff of the central banks of the region. the recent enlargement to ten new member states, as well as the progress in the accession negotiations with bulgaria and romania and the decision to begin negotiations with croatia serve as powerful reminders that the enlargement of the eu remains an ongoing process. however, for all countries in the region, no matter how far they have already travelled on the road towards the eu, there is no time for complacency. clearly, the speed at which south eastern european countries

jean - claude trichet : south eastern european challenges and prospects keynote speech by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, at the conference on european economic integration ( ceei ), vienna, 29 november 2004. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i am delighted to talk here in vienna to this distinguished audience at the conference on south eastern europe, the first of its kind organised by the osterreichische nationalbank. let me also warmly congratulate the oenb and governor liebscher for the initiative. when i think of the recent enlargement of the eu in central banking terms i cannot do so without thinking of the contribution of the oenb, which has been involved in enlargement issues from the very beginning. this was thanks to its long - standing expertise on central and eastern europe. with this event, the oenb clearly demonstrates once more that it is, inside the eurosystem, at the forefront of the analysis of european integration. the topic that we have for today - south eastern european challenges and prospects - is indeed a broad one. 1 challenges refer mainly to those that arise in the process of transition from a centrally planned to a market economy. in this respect, they are similar to the ones that those eight countries faced that joined the eu earlier in the year. but, as our friend and coparticipant in this conference governor nicholl of the central bank of bosnia and herzegovina puts it, for countries in the former yugoslavia there are also two other transitions with their own particular challenges : the transition from being part of a larger state to being independent democratic countries and the transition from war to peace. i do not intend to dwell on these issues but they are indeed important when thinking about south eastern europe. in setting the stage for the discussions today and tomorrow, i will focus my remarks on three aspects. i will first make some remarks on the economic and monetary performance of the region ; i will then touch upon the process of economic and financial integration into the eu and, lastly, i will briefly discuss the use of the euro in the region. as i will explain in more detail, economic and monetary performance has improved over the last years, although much remains to be done. economic links with the eu have been strengthening. these links are also based on a widespread use of the euro. economic and monetary performance in south eastern europe south eastern europe is a diverse and complex region, characterised by a relatively low level of