First the Brits removed Britannia from their coins. Now they may abandon the Pound. In the wake of the recent global financial crisis Great Britain may be inching closer to adopting the euro. The British Pound has fallen 21% against numerous major currencies over the last 15 months. Some in Britain feel that their economy would have fared better had Britain adopted the euro. Great Britain, facing a deep recession in 2009, may have to swallow its national pride and let go of its monetary sovereignty in order to stabilize its economy. Britain thinking of joining euro Other countries that appear close to adopting the euro are Denmark and Sweden. And so goes another numismatic tradition.
No goverment in the UK would adopt the Euro without a nation wide refferendum on the subject LOL Me I am in favour of it, but a lot of people here are ardently opposed. Strangley enough over the past week the £ has been gaining some lost ground against the Euro :goofer:
There has been much disfavour to the Euro in Scotland because of the loss of a unique currency, ie the three Scottish banks that still issue paper money. But are they really Scottish anymore: Bank of Scotland is owned by HBoS now. Clydesdale Bank is owned by National Australia Bank And best of all, Royal Bank of Scotland is owned 60% by the British Government. Be careful what you ask for though, going into the Euro band denies the government the ability to deflate or inflate it's currency to offset debts. Spain, Italy and Greece have found that out.
Sigh. Is there any way to make sure the UK does not join the currency union? It does not make much sense, neither for them nor for us. Christian
The real benefit for travelers is that they don't have to worry about converting currencies. I had horrible experience when I was in the EU many years ago - awful exchange rate + commission. Traveling Europe back then was a hassle as one would carry absurd amount of coins around EU and they end up being in the fountains or something.
Being able to use the same cash everywhere around here (for me that is primarily DE, NL, BE) sure is great. And while plastic has made it easier to make payments in other currencies, I still pay a "foreign usage" fee whenever I make a credit card payment outside Euroland. As for currencies coming to an "end", let's be a little more realistic here. There are two EU members than opted out, Denmark and the UK. As for Britain, the country will not and should not be part of our currency union. Denmark plans to have a referendum in 2011 or so, but since the Danish krone is "tied" to the euro anyway (ERM-II, minimal fluctuation), it is not such a top priority for them, I think. Sweden? Like all EU member states except for the two mentioned above, Sweden is theoretically obliged to introduce the euro once it meets the convergence criteria. Judging from the latest opinion polls, a referendum about this issue would end with a No majority just like in 2003. If they want to stay out, fine, if they change their mind, fine. Now Iceland is a different story. The country is not an EU member (something that a majority in the population, but not the government, would like to change), it may however introduce the euro unilaterally, like Andorra or Montenegro. Another option would be to keep the krona but, like Bulgaria for example, set up some currency board system ... Christian
Why would the EU want to take on a basket case like Iceland? Gees, they will pay big time in the next few years just with the Eastern European states joining. In my estimation it would have been better for the E. Europe states to have set up their own trading block first before ever joining the EU. It would have permitted better integration later - if it was run correctly. Then countries like Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia etc. could have a shot at stabilizing their economies. As it is now, Ukraine is a basket case up there with Iceland. While I was there last month, the Hryvnia lost 25% of it's value in a couple of days, and banks were shuttering. The Dollar and the Euro were king when it came to what people wanted you to pay them for larger transactions. Capital purchases, appliances, electronics etc. are mostly priced in either Euros or Dollars.
In the current economic situation, or crisis, it may be tempting for some countries to say, we want to benefit from the stability in terms of exchange rates that the euro has brought to the members of the currency union. That is primarily true for small economies such as Iceland. But such decisions should not be made too quickly - a currency union is not an umbrella that you grab when the clouds are dark, and put away when it's bright and sunny again ... Members of the currency union should be committed to monetary and, IMO, even further economic integration. That is tough anyway (as the past few weeks have shown very clearly) but would be extremely difficult to accomplish with the UK which has been pretty much the contrary of a motor so far. If the UK actually wanted to have something to with Europe in terms of currency, an alternative would make sense that can more easily be reverted later. Maybe some kind of exchange rate mechanism, similar to ERM-II but without having a euro introduction as the ultimate goal. Christian
Two different issues here. If Iceland now wants to join the EU (the government in Reykjavik is apparently reconsidering its position), then the country could, after the usual negotiations, get in. Since the country is part of the EEA anyway, that should not take decades. The "usual procedure" for an EU member with regard to the euro is this: When a country is (almost) ready, it joins the Exchange Rate Mechanism, meets the convergence criteria and can become a euro country after two years. This is the way Slovakia "gets in" next month. Iceland is another case - even if the country was in the EU, it would obviously not meet the convergence criteria. (Some of the existing euro countries would currently not meet them either, but that is another story. ) What Iceland may do is unilaterally start to use the euro, or peg the krona to it or to some currency basket. Maybe so; having to deal with ten new members joining at the same time (2004) and two more (2007) sure caused some friction in the EU. But saying "no, we do not want you yet" would have been the wrong signal, I think. Christian
My experience from when I lived in Britain (And from the very frequent travelling that I do between the UK and America) is that the average man on the street in the UK has no desire to adopt the Euro (And, to be honest, they aren't too keen on being members of the EU to begin with, can't say that I blame them, it hasn't done Britain much good). I think that if you held a nationwide referendum where you got to pick adopting the Euro or leaving the EU that the Pound Sterling would remain. Besides, Barroso's statements came, if I recall, from a handful of "confidential" British politicians. Sounds like Labour, and they are, thankfully, about to be voted out.
Try this for size http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Articles/ Maybe a good look through this will give a different insight into what is actually happening in the world... things are happening that we.. the common folk don't understand... the more we understand the better I reckon. Best wishers, Mike.
But of course that doesn't apply to Turkey, which in French thinking is a Middle Eastern and NOT European country. But in a way, I will opin I agree with them. Turkey is not at the forefront in democracy, has heavy handed means of dealing with internal and external strife, and a high probability of a conflict involving the Kurds inside Turkey and externally in Iraq. Iceland is one of the few remaining members of EFTA, which also includes Norway and Switzerland and perhaps the Faeroes(?), but at least EFTA has agreements in kind with the EU. Iceland has a major problem in that it's economy is not diversified, and is VERY vulnerable as the recent banking crisis has exposed recently. The Icelandic Kronur has taken a huge hit recently, and will continue to do so. It has a history of being re-valued before too. In my estimation Bulgaria and Romania were given freebie passes into the EU, and are farther behind economically than either Poland or Czech Republic which had to wait much longer. Poor Poland, had to wait ten years to finally throw off the communists, then wait to get into the EU, which it is finally - but still not in the currency band yet - but the zlotych has faired reasonably well since it was re-valued. In retrospect I believe the EU will agree that bringing in the new E. Europe members was a good thing, but that perhaps it should have been done a bit more methodically like the rest of the countries that joined, especially the countries that struggled to get on board with the Euro ie Italy, Greece etc. that are still having some degree of regret about it. And the £ Sterling has taken yet another bite from the dollar yet again today, goodie, as now I can buy things from British dealers on the cheap should I decide so again.
