EU countries hoping to adopt the euro are not yet ready to cash in on the benefits of the shared currency and need to make further efforts to join, two official EU reports said Tuesday.

In review of progress by Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden, the European Commission found that none was ready to sign up to the share European currency.

"The nine countries assessed are making progress towards convergence, though at different paces," the European Union's executive arm concluded in a report.

Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia urged them to keep up their efforts to reap the benefits of membership, which he said would provide greater economic stability.

"Although the road to the euro is proving more difficult than some may have thought originally, the reward is well worth the effort," Almunia said.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank said in a report released in parallel that while many of the EU countries hoping to sign up to the euro were making progress, they must do more on inflation or spending deficits.

With the exception of Britain and Denmark, which have special eurozone opt-outs, all EU countries are supposed to eventually make the euro their official currency.

Slovenia is to test the eurozone waters at the beginning of 2007 by becoming the first to adopt the single currency of the 10 mostly ex-communist countries that joined the European Union in 2004.

Although none of the nine countries under review met all of the so-called Maastricht criteria for joining, the two Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta had a chance of doing so next year, paving the way for their membership possibly in 2008.

To be able to adopt the euro, candidates must hold inflation low, keep sound finances that meet EU limits, have a stable exchange rate and long-term interest rates as well as ensure their laws are in line with EU and ECB norms.

However, the inflation and public finances criteria are probably the most difficult to meet for most countries with Lithuania being refused earlier this year entry to the eurozone along with Slovenia because its inflation was too high.

The commission found that the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Poland and Sweden were the only countries reviewed that met the inflation criteria while Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia and Sweden met the public finances, with Malta expected to do so next year.

The ECB warned that inflation in Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia was soaring well above a reference limit of 2.8 percent while the public deficits of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia were in excess of 3.0 percent of output.

Only Estonia met the exchange rate criteria although Malta and Cyprus were also expected to make the grade next year while all the countries under review, with the exception of Hungary, had long-term interests rates in line with the requirement.

On legal requirements, Estonia was the only country that had met EU and ECB norms although Cyprus and Malta were pushing through important new laws.

However, the ECB expressed "particular concern about recent growing signs of pressure being put on the decision-making bodies of some member states' national central banks, which would be inconsistent with the spirit of the (Maastricht) Treaty as regards central bank independence."

While the bank did not name any specific country, ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet publicly expressed concern earlier this year about the independence of the Polish central bank.

Lithuania was not included in the two reports because it was already reviewed earlier this year along with Slovenia.