Brussels, 23/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - Preparations of the candidate countries for entry into the euro zone means that first one has to ensure "sustainability in the respect of the Maastricht criteria", says an own-initiative opinion adopted by the European Economic and Social Committee last week on the impact of enlargement on EMU, presented by Bruno Vever (France., employers' group). According to the Committee, for post-2006 they should envisage a strengthening of the EU's own-resources. The Committee also asks for the effects of enlargement of EMU to be monitored on nearby and neighbouring economies, especially Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other former USSR countries, as well as on the Mediterranean countries and ACP countries. Finally, it urges the European Convention in its plenary sessions on the future of Europe to integrate the question of the enlargement of the EMU (institutional stakes, subsidiarity, etc.).