Sitting over lunch within view of Prague’s landmark Charles Bridge, Zdenek Tuma, the 44-year old Czech central bank governor, uncharacteristically lets rip. “Two years is a nonsense, yes a nonsense!” he exclaims, speaking about the need for the Czech koruna to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) for 24 months in order to ultimately join the euro. He is not alone in his dislike of this condition of entry. Many other accession country central bank governors share his views.