Cristian Popa of the National Bank of Romania has cautioned against optimism over the country's euro adoption. Popa, a member of the central bank's board of directors, put the message in plain words: not all things are rosy. Romania, in his assessment, has to push its budget deficit below 3% of gross domestic product. That is one part of the Maastricht criteria, all of which must be met before the country can swap the leu for the euro. The deficit condition has been Romania's recurring stumbling block on this road. His warning tells the public not to treat membership of the euro zone as something that arrives on its own. The lesson from the bank is that partial compliance will not be enough.