1.   European Commission President Jacques Santer and Yves-Thibault de Silguy, the EU finance commissioner said the data showed how successful governments have been in aligning their economies.

2.   Financial crises have hampered moves to align economy with EU.

3.   Hurd said there was no chance the British government would embrace the goal of a single money until the EU nations get their economies closely aligned.

4.   The critics say European countries have failed to align their economies around the low levels of deficit and debt necessary for a successful currency union.

5.   Under Simitis, Greece is expected to continue with efforts to align its economy with those of its European Union partners by the end of the decade.