Finally, Romanian enterprises, for which the euro area is an important trading partner, can use one currency, namely the euro, in their transactions with business partners from the 17 euro area countries.
In order to join the euro area, each EU country must meet a number of clearly defined criteria, namely: 1.  it must not be subject to an EU Council decision that an excessive budget deficit exists;  2.  it must have a price performance that is sustainable and an average inflation rate that does not exceed by more than one and a half percentage points that of the three best-performing EU countries in terms of price stability;  3.  it must have had an average nominal long-term interest rate that does not exceed by more than two percentage points that of the three best-performing EU countries in terms of price stability;  4.  its national currency must have participated in the Exchange Rate Mechanism II for at least two years and thus have respected the defined fluctuation margins of the currency towards the euro;  5.  it should ensure that it meets the requirements of legal convergence.