1.   The government linked the cuts with the need to contain public spending in order to meet the economic convergence criteria laid down for European Community economic and monetary union.

2.   As a movement we need to campaign to make sure that the convergence criteria of the monetary union reflect our concern and not of the monetarists.

3.   France faces problems in meeting the convergence criteria set by the Maastricht Treaty to participate in the European Union.

4.   German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said he received assurances from other European Union leaders they would apply strictly the convergence criteria for the planned single currency.

5.   He said the markets will only respect the Maastricht process and avoid speculative attacks against potential member currencies if the convergence criteria are strictly applied.

6.   High unemployment, a pressing problem across the continent, is widely blamed on the economic convergence criteria Maastricht set for the introduction of the common currency.

7.   I am now willing to bet it will take place on time, even if the convergence criteria have to be modified.

8.   In a series of bilateral meetings, Kohl urged his partners to speed up efforts to meet the convergence criteria.

9.   Insistence by European officials that the Maastricht convergence criteria cannot be altered has led some skeptics to conclude that the deadline cannot be met.

10.   The conditions, so-called convergence criteria, include minimum goals for budget deficits, debt, long-term interest rates, inflation and currency stability.