if needed, through the wide standard fluctuation band and the possibility of adjusting the central parity. as you know, three new eu countries have in the meantime entered the erm ii : with effect from 28 june 2004, estonia, lithuania and slovenia joined denmark as participants in the mechanism. the three new entrants joined with a standard fluctuation band of ±15 % around their central rates against the euro, while estonia and lithuania kept their currency boards as a unilateral commitment. in order to ensure a smooth participation in erm ii, countries have firmly committed to take the necessary measures to preserve macroeconomic and exchange rate stability. participation in erm ii has been smooth. the four currencies in the erm ii have traded continuously at or close to their central rates, while short - term interest rate differentials vis - a - vis the euro area have been small. beyond erm ii membership lies the adoption of the euro, the crowning achievement of the monetary integration process. in order to adopt the euro, non - participating eu member states have to achieve a high degree of sustainable economic and legal convergence. every country will be assessed on its own merits and its own particular situation, on the basis of a strict analysis of the performance relating to the maastricht convergence criteria. let me stress that there is no pre - set timetable for the enlargement of the euro area. economic challenges for the new member states how far are the new member states on this road towards the euro? the countries that joined the eu this year have shown impressive economic growth rates and have made great strides in reducing inflation. they belong to the most dynamic economies in the eu, having gone through profound structural changes. for example, they have taken thorough measures to reform their product and labour markets, and some new member states, in some respects, may be even more advanced than other, existing eu countries. they have become more integrated with the euro area, with the major part of their trade now occurring with the euro area and tight financial links : as a matter of fact, the share of the new 10 member states in the total external trade of the euro area stands around 11 %, compared with around 14 % for the us and 3 % for japan. in addition, the transition process has brought their economic structures closer to those of the euro area. at the same time, while remaining a diverse group in many respects, the new member states still display distinct economic characteristics that differ from

nina stoyanova : upcoming changes in the area of payment services publication of ms nina stoyanova, deputy governor ( banking department ) of the bulgarian national bank, in the quarterly bulletin of the association of banks in bulgaria, issue 58, july 2019. * * * over the last years we have witnessed a continuous trend of increase in cashless and online payments, dynamic development of technologies in the financial sector and new entrants in the market. in this regard, initiatives have been taken on both european and national level aiming to improve the legal framework in the area of payment services with a focus on payment security, ensuring a level playing field for market participants and improving customers ’ awareness. common and secure open standards of communication in accordance with the provisions of chapter 5 of commission delegated regulation ( eu ) 2018 / 3891, account servicing payment service providers that offer to a payer a payment account that is accessible online, must have in place at least one interface which enables the providers of the two new payment services to identify themselves towards the account servicing payment service provider, as well as to communicate with it securely and in a secure environment. in order to fulfil this obligation, delegated regulation ( eu ) 2018 / 389 provides two options : by enabling the providers of the new types of services to communicate with the account servicing payment service providers through the interfaces, intended for payment services users ( e. g. internet banking of the respective bank ) or by establishing a dedicated interface ( so - called application programming interface - api ). where an account servicing payment service provider chooses to use a dedicated interface allowing access ( api ), it should provide a fallback mechanism that will allow the providers of the new types of services to use the customer interface of the relevant account servicing payment service provider in case of problems with the dedicated interface. the regulation provides the possibility for the competent authorities responsible for implementing directive ( eu ) 2015 / 23662, such as the bulgarian national bank ( bnb ), to exempt an account servicing payment service provider from the obligation to set up and run such a fallback mechanism on its dedicated interface ( api ) if the conditions of the regulation, relating to availability and service level, publication of data, performance of stress - tests, design and testing facility of the interface, its wide usage, as well as problem resolution, are complied with. in the interest of clarity regarding interpretation of the conditions for exemption, the european banking authority ( eba ) has adopted guidelines on the