christian noyer : presentation of the ecb convergence report 2000 introductory statement by mr christian noyer, vice - president of the european central bank, at the presentation of the ecb convergence report 2000 to the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament, brussels, on 3 may 2000. * * * it is a great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to present this year ’ s convergence report, prepared by the european central bank ( ecb ), to your committee. the report examines in - depth, with regard to greece and sweden, the achievement of a high degree of sustainable convergence, as well as compliance with the statutory requirements to be fulfilled by national central banks in order for them to become integral parts of the european system of central banks ( escb ). in producing this report, the ecb fulfilled the requirements of article 122 ( 2 ) in conjunction with article 121 ( 1 ) of the treaty to report to the council of the european union on the progress of member states with a derogation, with regard to their obligations concerning the achievement of economic and monetary union ( emu ). it will now be up to the council to decide, on the basis of the convergence reports prepared by the european commission and the ecb, and of the parliament ’ s opinion and a proposal from the european commission, whether or not the current derogation status of greece and sweden can be abrogated. in view of the comprehensive assessment provided in our report, it goes without saying that i can only touch upon its main conclusions. however, in the following discussion we should have an opportunity to consider in more depth one or other aspect in which you might be particularly interested. i should like, first, to refer to our assessment of economic convergence in greece and sweden and then to address the requirements of legal convergence. i. assessment of economic convergence in greece as far as economic convergence in greece is concerned, it is noted that greece achieved an average rate of hicp inflation of 2. 0 % during the reference period ( april 1999 to march 2000 ). this is below the reference value of 2. 4 %. looking back, a clear trend towards lower inflation is discernible in greece, with the cpi rate falling from 20. 4 % in 1990 to 2. 6 % in 1999. inflation in greece is now closer to a level which can generally be considered to be consistent with price stability. however, due attention needs to be paid to the fact that the recent reduction in inflation rates

the statutes of these two national central banks. with regard to greece it concludes that : • the statute of the bank of greece has been adapted and, on the basic assumption that the new statute will be ratified by parliament and will enter into force on time and that obsolete provisions of a law dating back to 1997 ( law 2548 / 1997 ) will be repealed, there will be no remaining imperfections in the statute of the bank of greece relating to the requirements of the treaty and the statute of the escb for the full legal integration of the bank of greece into the eurosystem. • the ecb also takes note that other legislation will be adapted by means of a law introducing the euro. with regard to sweden, the conclusions of the emi ’ s 1998 convergence report remain unchanged. swedish legislation, and in particular the statute of sveriges riksbank, does not provide for the bank ’ s legal integration into the eurosystem and is not, therefore, compatible with the treaty and the statute of the escb. as far as other legislation is concerned, the ecb notes that legislation on access to public documents and the law on secrecy need to be reviewed in the light of the confidentiality regime set out in article 38 of the statute of the escb. i should now be happy to answer any questions you may have with regard to the ecb ’ s convergence assessment of greece and sweden.