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Long-term interest rates for Acceding Countries
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The fourth Maastricht criterion is based on the level of long term interest rates. The fourth indent of Article 121 of the Treaty refers to the durability of convergence achieved by the Member State and of its participation in the exchange rate mechanism of the European Monetary System being reflected in the long-term interest rate levels. According to Article 4 of the Protocol on the convergence criteria, compliance with the fourth Maastricht criterion shall mean that, observed over a period of one year before the examination, a Member State has had an average nominal long-term interest rate that does not exceed by more than 2 percentage points that of, at most, the three best performing Member States in terms of price stability. Interest rates shall be measured on the basis of long-term government bonds or comparable securities, taking into account differences in national definitions.