There was support for a "flexible" interpretation of the Maastricht economic convergence criteria.

Slideshow (8 images) Going beyond taxes, broader economic convergence in the euro zone could prove tricky.

The Maastricht criteria for economic convergence have always appeared to be inadequate indicators of the state of any economy.

A German source said Putin told Steinmeier that Russia welcomed steps towards economic convergence between Ukraine and the European Union.

Trading on the exchange has ramped up in recent years due to an improved regulatory environment and the country's economic convergence with Western Europe.

Scrapping the zero-risk weighting would also undermine the EU's political objective of real and nominal economic convergence and create a two-tier sovereign debt market.