  The four LEP collaborations, ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL, have collected 2465
pb-1 of e+e- collision data at energies between 189 and 209 GeV, of which 542
pb-1 were collected above 206 GeV. Searches for the Standard Model Higgs boson
have been performed by each of the LEP collaborations. Their data have been
combined and examined for their consistency with the Standard Model background
and various Standard Model Higgs boson mass hypotheses. A lower bound of 114.1
GeV has been obtained at the 95% confidence level for the mass of the Higgs
boson. The likelihood analysis shows a preference for a Higgs boson with a mass
of 115.6 GeV. At this mass, the probability for the background to generate the
observed effect is 3.4%.
