Convergence requirements EMU

Within the European Monetary Union there are a number of convergence criterias. These convergence criterias must be met by any country who wishes to attend and participate in the European Monetary Union.

Price stability is a convergence requirement that means that a country not are allowed to have an inflation rate that is more than 1.5 percentage points above the inflation in the countries with the lowest inflation rates in EMU. The interest rate in one country may not be more than 2 percentage points above the interest rate of the countries with the lowest interest rates in the EMU under the second convergence criterion.

The third convergence criterion implies that the exchange rate should be stable within the ERM bands for two years before admission to EMU. The fourth convergence criterion concerns the budget and implies that a country may have a maximum budget deficit of 3 % of GDP and a public debt amounting to at most 60 % of GDP.