The European Central Bank confirms in a press release that, on 1 January 2007, the European Union (EU) enlarged through the accession of two new Member States, i.e. Bulgaria and Romania.
As from this date, the national central banks (NCBs) of the two new Member States have been integrated into the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Moreover, their respective Governors have become members of the General Council of the European Central Bank (ECB). In addition, experts from the two NCBs in the ESCB Committees have member status whenever the committees meet in ESCB composition. Since the Accession Treaties were signed in April 2005, the Governors of the NCBs of the two new Member States and their experts have been participating as observers in the meetings of the General Council and the committees respectively.
The ECB press release also mentions that the new Member States will not adopt the euro immediately. They will do so once they have fulfilled the requirements laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Community. Unlike Denmark and the United Kingdom, the two new Member States do not have the right to opt out of adopting the single currency.
Both the ECB and the European Commission will prepare convergence reports every two years, or at the request of a "Member State with a derogation". These reports provide the basis for the EU Council's decision on whether the Member State concerned fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of the euro.
In another press release, the ECB announces that, on 1 January 2007, the euro was introduced in Slovenia. Slovenia has thus become the 13th EU Member State to adopt the single currency and is the first of the new Member States to join Economic and Monetary Union in Europe. The ECB welcomes this further enlargement of the euro area.
As a result of the adoption of the euro by Slovenia, Banka Slovenije is now a full member of the Eurosystem, with the same rights and obligations as the 12 NCBs of the other EU Member States that have adopted the euro. In accordance with Article 49 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, Banka Slovenije has paid up the remainder of its contribution to the capital of the ECB. Banka Slovenije has also transferred to the ECB its contribution to the foreign reserve assets of the ECB.
The integration of the Slovenian monetary financial institutions into the euro area banking system on 1 January 2007 was already taken into account in the publication of the euro area liquidity needs and in the benchmark allotment on 27 and 28 December 2006.
The list of monetary financial institutions located in Slovenia and subject to reserve requirements is published on the ECB's website, as are the lists of the other EU Member States that have adopted the euro. The list of assets located in Slovenia and eligible as collateral for the credit operations of the Eurosystem is also available on the ECB's website at http://www.ecb.int/stats/money/mfi/general/html/index.en.html.
In a third press release, the ECB refers to the fact that, pursuant to Article 29 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, the shares of the NCBs in the ECB's capital key are weighted according to the shares of the respective Member States in the total population and the gross domestic product of the EU, in equal measure, as notified to the ECB by the European Commission. These weights are adjusted every five years and whenever new Member States join the EU, the last change being made on 1 May 2004 when ten new Member States joined the EU.
On 1 January 2007, the ECB's capital key was changed on account of the Bulgarian National Bank and Banca Naţională a României joining the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).
In accordance with Article 49.3 of the Statute, the ECB's subscribed capital is automatically increased when a new Member State joins the EU and its NCB joins the ESCB. The increase is determined by multiplying the prevailing amount of subscribed capital (i.e. EUR 5,565,000,000) by the ratio, within the extended capital key, between the weights of the acceding NCB(s) and those of the NCBs that are already members of the ESCB. Therefore, on 1 January 2007, the subscribed capital of the ECB was raised to EUR 5,760,652,402.58.
The relevant ECB Decisions are available on the ECB's website and will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union in due course.
N.B.: As from 3 January 2007, the NBR's website (www.bnro.ro) includes a new section posting the ECB press releases in Romanian. Starting from March 2007, this section will also encompass the ECB publications translated into Romanian.