SMF reports the European Central Bank opposes changing the criteria for euro adoption to put Eastern European countries on a faster track to join the common currency.
Hungary and Poland in particular have been pressing for quick entry into the common-currency bloc, viewing it as a haven in the economic downturn.
Hungary has floated the idea of shortening the time candidates must link their currencies to the euro before they can adopt it. Poland, meanwhile, wants to quickly link its currency to the euro, in order to start the clock on the waiting period of at least two years.
The ECB is concerned that a currency linked prematurely to the euro could suffer a speculative attack by traders. That, in turn, could destabilize the currencies of other countries already linked to the euro.