’ s share will amount to about 2. 3 % or some eur 115 million ( approx. ats 1. 6 billion ). based on eleven countries participating in monetary union from the start, the oenb ’ s share in the subscribed capital will be 2. 9 %. capital subscription entitles the oenb to a proportionate share in the ecb ’ s profit. the key for determining the share of capital to be paid up will also be instrumental in determining the distribution of monetary income earned by the national central banks from the issuance of central bank money. under the escb ’ s statute, the monetary income of all participating national central banks will be paid into a common pool and then redistributed in accordance with the key for capital subscription. this procedure was chosen because it is impossible to predict the regional distribution of central bank money creation within the monetary union. incidentally, this is not a problem, as the entire euro area will be a single currency area with identical money market rates and uniformly applicable terms governing the allocation of central bank money. however, to ensure an equitable distribution of income from the creation of money within the escb, a profit distribution mechanism will be installed. at least in the early phase of monetary union, however, there will still be substantial differences in the central banks ’ balance sheets owing to national differences in the use of cash, payments and savings habits. consequently, transitional arrangements have to be made for the initial period before the monetary income distribution mechanism can be introduced. once the structures of national financial markets and the circulation of banknotes and coins begin to converge, it will become easier to define an appropriate approach to the gradual introduction of the monetary income distribution mechanism. 5. other activities remaining within the ncbs ’ responsibility let me now come to the last area of central bank activities. beside their function as an “ integral part of the escb ” the national central banks frequently perform a number of specific duties they have grown into in the course of their history. such public duties above all - 10 - include tasks relating to the supervision of banks and financial markets, carried out either directly in their function as a supervisory authority or as an expert pool supporting the authorities charged with banking supervision. some central banks prepare analyses of the financial statements of companies established in their countries in connection with their use of instruments of monetary policy and as a service to the business community. sometimes, central banks are involved in the government programs for the promotion of exports

countries, this step may also be taken later. the prerequisite for the last step 3 adopting the euro and thus participating fully in emu - requires sustainable fulfillment of the maastricht convergence criteria. fulfillment of the criteria is ascertained using a procedure set out in detail in the treaty on european union. one aspect of fulfillment is the maintenance of price stability as the primary objective of central banks. not only institutional and legal aspects as well as the principle of equal treatment, but also economic considerations strongly suggest the step - by - step procedure i have sketched out. adopting the euro too early could place severe strains on such countries ’ economies, and perhaps even trigger substantial and lasting disturbances. such a course of action would be in the interest neither of the current euro area members, nor of future members of the euro area. still, an early introduction of the euro is sometimes presented as a panacea to all the economic ills and in particular to the still existing structural weaknesses in central and eastern europe. in my view, this is a grave delusion. structural problems can simply not be solved by monetary policy measures, they have to be corrected by creating proper incentive structures, transparent rules and functioning institutions. all this takes time. simplistic quick fixes or “ shortcuts ” will certainly not do the job, but will instead significantly add to existing difficulties. therefore, ladies and gentlemen, let me draw the conclusion that the key challenge facing the applicant countries in the next few years, consists in strengthening their market economies and their competitiveness by firmly pushing ahead with structural reform and by subsequently adopting the community acquis in the process. only on this basis will the eu candidate countries from central and eastern europe be able to attain durable and sustainable macroeconomic stability, and only by taking these steps will they ultimately be able to fulfill, in a lasting manner, the prerequisites for participation in the euro area.