Euro – you will decide

History was made on New Year’s Day when twelve major countries adopted one common currency. Although the euro has been around for three years, until now it was only used by accountants and bankers. That changed on Tuesday 1 January 2002 when 300 million people in a total of 18 separately governed states* started using one set of notes and coins – a single currency in fact as well as in name.

Although the UK is not joining the euro, it will be hard to avoid the new currency. Millions of Britons who travel to Europe each year now need to carry just one sort of money from Finland to Portugal, Ireland to Greece. If you visit more than one eurozone country – perhaps Greece in the Spring, Spain in the autumn, and a trip to France to buy Christmas booze – you no longer have to change drachmas, pesetas, or francs back into Sterling. You can save money by keeping them for your next European trip. In the UK many High Street shops now accept euro, just as many take US dollars. In Ireland the leaky border between North and South will be all that separates the euro from the pound.

None of this means that joining the euro would be good for Britain or our economy. Even experts are divided, so it is not surprising the rest of us find it hard to decide. But soon we may have to. The Government could hold a referendum on joining the euro by October 2003. Only one country has held a vote specifically on this question. In September 2000 the people of Denmark voted against. It will be up to us whether we follow suit.

*Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain form the eurozone. In Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City the euro has replaced the currencies they previously used. Overseas parts of France and Spain also use the euro, as do Kosovo and Montenegro in the former Yugoslavia. Denmark, Sweden, and UK are in the European Union but outside the euro.

Full updated list of where you can use the euro

Spring 2002

e-mail Paul Lewis on paul@paullewis.co.uk