By Richard Laming
Published in EUobserver, 10 June 2003
The British government’s announcement yesterday, 9 June, that Britain will not be joining the euro any time soon should not have surprised anyone. It should not fool anyone, either. This is not a near miss or a postponement: this is failure.
The collapse of the British government’s pro-euro strategy could have been – and in some honourable quarters, was – foreseen from the outset.
“They’ve got sovereignty, we’ve got economics,” said Britain in Europe’s newly appointed campaign director back in the summer of 1999. “We’ve got to make sure that our economics beats their sovereignty.” Simple as that.
The economic case for British membership of the euro may be strong but it is hardly compelling.
Read the whole article at 030610euobserver