Today at 3 p.m. in local time, the European Central Bank (ECB) is releasing to the public a report entitled "Payment systems in countries that have applied for membership of the European Union". The publication has been prepared in co-operation with the central banks of Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. It provides comprehensive information on the payment and settlement systems of the above countries.

For the European Union (EU) countries this kind of information has been available in the report entitled "Payment systems in the European Union" (also known as the "Blue Book"), the second edition of which was published by the European Monetary Institute in April 1996.

The European Central Bank holds the view that within the field of payment systems, the publication of this report marks an important milestone in the deepening of co-operation with the central banks of the countries that have applied for EU membership.

The full text of the report can be accessed via the ECB's Web site (http://www.ecb.int). The respective ECB's press release is also available at the same site.