deficit in the euro area rose from 1. 6 % in 1999 to 2. 4 % in 2004. during the same period, the unadjusted primary surplus went down from 2. 9 % to 0. 6 %. 2 this “ consolidation inertia ” is mirrored at the legislative level by the radical changes made to the stability and growth pact. the term “ pact ” reflects the political consensus which underlay its creation. in the legal sense, it is not in fact a “ pact ”, meaning an agreement under international public law, but rather two council regulations3, in other words, secondary european law. this is reinforced by the european council resolution of 17. june 1997. 4 the “ mother of all rules ” is still the primary law under article 104 of the ec treaty and protocol no 11 on the excessive deficit procedure. the changes to the stability and growth pact were agreed, after a lengthy debate, by the ecofin council on 20 march 2005 and by the heads of state or government at its spring meeting only a few the information on the budgetary figures ( including the cyclically adjusted values ) is based on european commission figures on government data from spring 2005.. the primary balance is defined as the government deficit / surplus excluding interest expenditure. council regulation ( ec ) no 1466 / 97 of 7 july 1997 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies and council regulation ( ec ) no 1467 / 97 of 7 july 1997 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure, oj c209, 2 august 1997, p 1 and p 6. oj c236, 2 august 1997, p 1 ; in its judgement of 13 july 2004 ( c - 27 / 04 ), the ecj also mentions the council resolution in connection with the methodology of the deficit procedure ( 71 et seq. of the grounds ) as having “ defined more precisely and strengthened ” the stability and growth pact, without deriving any further specific legal consequences from this. days later. 5the council adopted the relevant changes to regulations 1466 / 97 and 1467 / 97 on 27 june 2005. 6 as far as the results are concerned, i share the opinion held by most neutral observers : namely, that overall the fiscal rules have been significantly weakened. by contrast, the challenges facing a stabilityoriented fiscal policy in terms of public acceptance have grown considerably. the less stringent the rules, the more convincing sound fiscal

mugur isarescu : convergence towards euro enlargement opening speech by mr mugur isarescu, governor of the national bank of romania, at the conference " the danube triangle ", bucharest, 25 october 2018. * * * distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to welcome you to the national bank of romania. it is the seventh time that the national bank of romania hosts an elec conference. it started in 2011 with “ renewable energy and transport infrastructure in the black sea region ”, a year later we talked about “ eastern europe and the emu : finding the optimal path for introducing the euro “. in 2013 there was the 3rd edition of the danube financing dialogue. the following year the dialogue focused on “ agriculture and environmental protection in central and eastern europe and their contribution to growth and employment “. in 2016 we discussed on “ how the eu can generate a virtuous circle in the black sea region – the case of food and energy security ” and last year we debated on “ the challenges for eastern europe in the present turmoil in the eu and emu – persevering in the reforms and investing for the future ”. as one could notice, the topics previously discussed during all elec conferences have most certainly cast a new light on possible ways to handle the challenges ahead of us. the european league for economic cooperation has stood out, ever since its foundation in 1946, as an independent network of business people who put their knowledge and influence together to extend european integration. the diversity and independence of its membership have always inspired elec to ask the appropriate questions and formulate coherent opinions, constantly having in mind the european interest. this year ’ s elec conference promises to be equally interesting as it concentrates on “ convergence towards euro enlargement ” and i am honoured to be one of the keynote speakers. i salute the close cooperation between government officials in the region with high european officials, as well as with the private sector and prestigious organisations such as elec. we should never allow ourselves to lose sight of the fact that these discussions aim to help us on a journey made for the benefit of all. and it is a journey that can only be made through constant and diverse dialogue. allow me to greet our renowned foreign guests : baron bernard snoy, president of elec international, wim boonstra, president of elec monetary commission, mr. servaas deroose, deputy director - general, ecfin, as well as the distinguished speakers and