rules and a consistent application over time will reinforce the credibility of the process of euro area enlargement. this will, in turn, facilitate the sustainability of convergence. the framework is flexible enough to accommodate the country - specific features of all countries that want to adopt the euro. i would also like to emphasise that meeting the convergence criteria in a sustainable manner before joining the euro area is in the interest of all parties concerned and above all for the candidate countries themselves. i am now at your disposal for questions.

2002. in order to address this concern, a substantial number of measures are being implemented at the national level. while a successful cash changeover is an immediate concern – and thus naturally at the centre of current public and media attention, – we should also bear in mind some of the longer - term challenges involved in making economic and monetary union and the euro a lasting success. in this context, the relationship between the single monetary policy and the presence of regional economic differences in the euro area is probably of particular relevance and, in my view, also a topic of common interest to our institutions. the treaty establishing the european community unambiguously lays down that the overriding objective of the single monetary policy is to maintain price stability in the euro area. this reflects the notion that the best contribution that monetary policy can make to sustainable long - run economic growth and rising standards of living is to maintain price stability. a single monetary policy which is successful in fulfilling this objective will not necessarily imply that euro area regions or countries will always display similar price developments. divergence in price developments across various regions or countries is a normal phenomenon in monetary unions. such differentials in price developments represent relative price changes, which do not affect – and are not affected by – monetary policy. given the existence of a single monetary policy in the euro area, the ecb's monetary policy can only have an impact on the price level for the euro area as a whole. this is true irrespective of the number of countries or regions that are part of the euro area. this implies that the ecb's monetary policy must focus on price stability in the euro area as a whole. however, it is important to understand the sources of differentials in the rates of price changes among countries and regions in the euro area, since they may affect citizens'welfare and require national or regional corrective measures. one source of divergence in the rates of price changes across euro area countries or regions, which is often quoted in public debates, relates to the “ catching - up processes ”. we can witness such a catching - up process when a country or a region starts from a lower level of productivity – and thus income per capita – compared with other economies participating in emu. during the transitional period, there may be faster productivity growth in sectors exposed to international competition in the catching - up economies than in the more mature economies. this, in turn, might be associated with faster price increases in the catching - up economies. this