Irish Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy said on Tuesday that so far no new members of the European Union had applied for membership of the EU's Exchange Rate Mechanism ERM-2. "There are no applications for participation at this stage," McCreevy said after an informal meeting of euro zone finance ministers.
"There's an established procedure for making applications and for considering them, and this will be followed," McCreevy said, adding that senior finance ministery officials had had regular discussions on the the participation of new member states in the currency grid.
"The eurogroup has been kept informed. No conclusion has been drawn from these discussions," McCreevy said.
McCreevy chaired the meeting of euro zone finance ministers, known as the Eurogroup, as Ireland holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
Source: Reuters
02.06.2004