58% of Germans want to dump the Euro and revert back to Mark

[Blackleaf]

Britain was right to keep the Pound.....


Germans Would Ditch Euro, Return to Mark

December 21, 2006

Angus-Reid

(ARGM) - Many adults in Germany would rather go back to their previous currency, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern and RTL. 58 per cent of respondents would prefer to use the German Mark instead of the Euro.

The Euro has been used in 12 of 15 European Union (EU) countries since January 2002. At the time, Sweden, Denmark and Britain were the only EU members that did not adopt the currency. The European Central Bank has set a fiscal deficit limit of 3.0 per cent to allow other member nations to adopt the Euro.

According to the German Federal Bank (DB), about $19 billion U.S. worth of German Marks remain in circulation throughout the European country. The DB allows any person to change their German Marks into Euros indefinitely, and some stores have participated in promotions were customers are allowed to pay in German Marks.

Polling Data
Would you prefer to use the German Mark instead of the Euro?

Yes: 58%

No: 40%

Not sure: 2%

Source: Forsa / Stern / RTL

Methodology: Interviews with 1,000 German adults, conducted on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15, 2006. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14167

 

[Toro]

Smart move, considering they've linked their currency to irresponsible countries like Italy, Belgium, Greece, etc.

 

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French hostility to euro begins to gather pace

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Last Updated: 10:55pm GMT 27/12/2006

Daily Telegraph
London

* 52% of the French are against the Euro

* 71% of French blue-collar workers now say the euro has hurt them personally.

* A quarter of all French still think in francs "the whole time" when shopping.


The French people have turned against monetary union for the first time since the launch of the euro five years ago, underscoring the fragility of an experiment that draws its lifeblood from French and German popular acceptance.

A TNS Sofres poll released today by Le Pèlerin magazine found that 52pc of the French public now regard the euro as a "bad thing", blaming it for price jumps and job losses.

While the professional elites still favour EMU by a wide margin, some 71pc of blue-collar workers now say the euro has hurt them personally. A quarter of all French still think in francs "the whole time" when shopping.

France's loss of faith in the euro is a stark contrast to the euphoric mood on New Year's Day 2002 when crowds thronged cash machines to draw their first clutch of €10, €20, and €50 notes.

The flawless launch confounded those predicting monetary havoc as 12 nations switched currency overnight. British and American sceptics who said the breathtaking venture would never get off the ground had to eat humble pie.

For the French, E-Day was a triumph of diplomacy and national will. Monetary union was their project from the start, pushed by President François Mitterand as a means of taming the Bundesbank. Mr Mitterand secured his prize in a deal with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1991, offering his support for German reunification in exchange for a fusion of the franc and the deutschmark, a scheme ultimately extended to the Club Med bloc, to the horror of German bankers.

The Gallic revolt against EMU comes after the first serious moves by the European Central Bank to tighten monetary policy. Interest rates have risen six times in a year from 2pc to 3.5pc, propelling the euro to $1.31 against the dollar, a far cry from levels near 85 cents that gave Europe's industry a shot in the arm in 2001-2002.

French growth slumped to a halt in the third quarter, led by an incipient crisis in the car industry, where PSA Peugeot Citroen is laying off 10,000 workers. Labour costs have crept up 20pc compared to Germany since the euro-launch, with consequences that are only now becoming evident.

Responding to the new mood of angst, French leaders across the spectrum are suddenly outdoing each other with frontal attacks on the euro system.

Premier Dominique de Villepin has urged Europe's politicians to reassert control over their national economies and curb the powers of the ECB.

"We must clarify matters in exchange rate policy, which means taking back our sovereignty," he said, causing tremors in Brussels.

Mr de Villepin was alluding to a treaty clause giving EU ministers power to shape the currency, a tool that could be used to force changes in interest rates.

Ségolène Royal, socialist candidate for the presidential elections in May, has gone even further, accusing ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet of usurping democratic authority. "It's not for Mr Trichet to dictate the future of our economies: it's a matter for our leaders chosen by the people. We must completely change the charter of the central bank," she said.

The financial markets have so far taken no notice, discounting the remarks as electoral rhetoric. In the light of today's poll, speculators now bidding up the euro may wish to ponder the risk that the French mean what they say

telegraph.co.uk


Us Brits can just sit here watching the French, Germans, Italians and all the rest who have the Euro and just laugh at them