EC: Hungary does not meet any of Maastricht criteria. Hungary does not meet any of the Maastricht criteria for joining the euro-zone, the regular biennial Convergence Report of the EC concluded. We note that among the 9 assessed countries Hungary is the only one with such result (the country is the only one which does not meet the long-term interest rate criterion). While the EC conclusion brings little surprise as far as the specific criteria are concerned, we note that the Report stressed that Hungary continues to have some legal incompatibilities in the convergence process. More specifically the EC said that the amendments on the Act of the National Bank of Hungary , which were approved at end-2004, did not fully remove the problematic areas pointed out in the 2004 report. Furthermore, there is incompatibility in respect to the prohibition of monetary financing. Overall the commission concluded that there should not be change in Hungary ’s status as a “member state with derogation”