1. Delors: Britain right to reject euro
Jacques Delors, the former President of the European Union, this week admitted that Britain was justified in opting out of the single currency. In an interview with the Times, he said, “Since we have not succeeded in maximising the economic advantages of the euro, one can understand the British saying, “Things are just fine as they are. Staying out of the euro hasn’t stopped us prospering” (17 January). Delors predicts that Britain will stay out of the euro for years.
The former EU President lamented that EU leaders had failed to heed his warning that monetary union must be matched with the close co-ordination of economic policies and argued that the euro was consequently less attractive that it could have been. He added that the EU was in a “state of latent crisis” because of weak leadership and blamed membership leaders, including Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder, for the poor state of the EU and for putting national interests before the common good.
A number of reports out in the past couple of weeks prove Delors’ point – Britain is thriving outside the euro. An OECD report on the British economy published this week praised UK growth for being among the world’s best. The report says, “the UK has proved remarkably resilient. More recently, it’s been gaining momentum well ahead of the euro area”. In its latest growth forecasts, the ITEM club, a forecaster that uses the Treasury’s model, has said the Chancellor has a “good chance” of meeting his growth prediction of between 3 and 3.5 percent both this year and in 2005. And the latest unemployment figures reveal that Britain’s unemployment dropped to a 28 year low in December.
Jacques Delors is right to say that Britain is justified in opting out of the single currency. Outside the euro Britain is thriving – we have higher growth and lower unemployment than the Eurozone average and are projected to receive more investment than France and Germany for the foreseeable future. Last year almost half the Eurozone was in recession and the area lost 200,000 jobs – as Delors rightly points out, why risk what we have.
http://www.bfors.co.uk/mediacentre/archive.asp?ID=220
Jacques Delors, the former President of the European Union, this week admitted that Britain was justified in opting out of the single currency. In an interview with the Times, he said, “Since we have not succeeded in maximising the economic advantages of the euro, one can understand the British saying, “Things are just fine as they are. Staying out of the euro hasn’t stopped us prospering” (17 January). Delors predicts that Britain will stay out of the euro for years.
The former EU President lamented that EU leaders had failed to heed his warning that monetary union must be matched with the close co-ordination of economic policies and argued that the euro was consequently less attractive that it could have been. He added that the EU was in a “state of latent crisis” because of weak leadership and blamed membership leaders, including Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder, for the poor state of the EU and for putting national interests before the common good.
A number of reports out in the past couple of weeks prove Delors’ point – Britain is thriving outside the euro. An OECD report on the British economy published this week praised UK growth for being among the world’s best. The report says, “the UK has proved remarkably resilient. More recently, it’s been gaining momentum well ahead of the euro area”. In its latest growth forecasts, the ITEM club, a forecaster that uses the Treasury’s model, has said the Chancellor has a “good chance” of meeting his growth prediction of between 3 and 3.5 percent both this year and in 2005. And the latest unemployment figures reveal that Britain’s unemployment dropped to a 28 year low in December.
Jacques Delors is right to say that Britain is justified in opting out of the single currency. Outside the euro Britain is thriving – we have higher growth and lower unemployment than the Eurozone average and are projected to receive more investment than France and Germany for the foreseeable future. Last year almost half the Eurozone was in recession and the area lost 200,000 jobs – as Delors rightly points out, why risk what we have.
http://www.bfors.co.uk/mediacentre/archive.asp?ID=220