2002 shows that the price level in the euro countries rose by 0. 5 per cent between december 2001 and january 2002. however, this is not considered to be caused primarily by the cash changeover - the effect of this is estimated to be somewhere in the interval of 0. 0 - 0. 16 per cent. the bank of finland has not yet made a complete analysis of how large an effect the cash changeover has had on prices, but the figures for the month of january give no indication of inflationary pressure from the price rounding - off. however, there have been reports from the netherlands of some effects on inflation. in a number of other countries ( e. g. greece, france and ireland ) the authorities have been keeping a very close watch on price increases and are working to counteract them. naturally, there are a large number of other experiences from the introduction of the euro that could be mentioned in this context, and the riksbank is working on a compilation of the information we have received from other central banks in the euro area. this compilation will be presented in the next progress report from the sifs group ( no. 8 ), which will be published in may. discussion of the timetable for a potential swedish emu membership the timetable for a potential full swedish membership of emu will be determined by the political process. the government bill " sweden and the economic and monetary union " from 1997 states that if the government later finds that sweden should participate in the monetary union, the matter should be put before the swedish people. pronouncements by, for instance, prime minister goran persson indicate that a referendum will be held next year. other political leaders have expressed similar opinions. if the result is a " yes ", then sweden would put forward an application to the european commission and the ecb for an examination of whether we fulfil the legal and economic convergence criteria. the economic criteria assessed are the inflation rate, long - term interest rates, exchange rate stability and the public sector's budget and central government debt. following this scrutiny, the european parliament and the european council shall present their views on the reports made by the commission and the ecb and after this the ecofin council will decide on the commission's proposal to allow sweden to participate in the union. if sweden is accepted, there will be negotiations on when entry will occur and at what exchange rate the krona will be fixed against the euro, which is decided by the ecofin council. after

##notes and coins. this would in total involve a period of between two and three years from a referendum until the introduction of the euro is complete. however, i believe that this period can be shortened somewhat, assuming that the political process openly and clearly chooses a transition process and establishes a timetable for the different stages. it is worth remembering, in this context, that there is no reason why a cash changeover should have to be made at the start of a year, for practical reasons it would be better implemented in march or october. another alternative described in the report is known as " big bang ", i. e. to begin a cash changeover at the same time as the krona exchange rate is fixed and full membership of the monetary union occurs. this scenario requires a preparation period of 2 - 2. 5 years. this makes the demand that the euro can be handled in all transactions in sweden, both physical and electronic, and by everyone in sweden, from the corner tobacconist to the national swedish social insurance board and the major banks from the first day of membership. as this alternative involves a simultaneous changeover in it systems, other practicalities such as accounting and payment of taxes, as well as a physical cash changeover, it makes high demands on co - ordination and information. taking into account the longer preparation period prior to the actual emu membership required in this alternative, it would take longer until sweden could fully participate in all forums for co - operation and decision - making within the monetary union than would be the case with a gradual transition process. the advantage of this scenario is that it would avoid uncertainty arising among the general public over the position of the euro during the transition period in that the euro could be used everywhere immediately. it has not yet been established what kind of transition scenario we would have in sweden. nor is it yet clear how much time would be required, partly because the political process has not yet chosen a transition scenario and partly because changes are constantly being made in operations and it systems that affect the time required for a potential transition. examples of measures that reduce the time required for a potential membership are that it systems that are being modernised for other reasons are designed to also process euros. within the riksbank we are working on reducing the length of time calculated as necessary for the production of swedish euro coins. the result of our preparations and those of the financial sector are reported, as i mentioned earlier, in regular progress reports. number 8 will be published in may.