e-mail Paul Lewis on paul@deadline.demon.co.uk
Eleven countries of the European Union joined in economic and monetary union on January 1 1999. So whether we like it or not (and clearly many readers do not!) the euro already exists. And that means there could be some advantages for some people in opening a euro bank account or keeping some of their investments in companies which trade in the eurozone. It would be wrong if I or Saga Magazine failed to point these things out to our readers.
For the first time in our history there are two parallel currencies in Britain. Some British companies have already said that they expect their British suppliers to invoice them in euros. And the British High Street banks have already set up a separate clearing system for euros. All this is happening without Britain joining EMU. As some readers have pointed out - and as I said in my piece - there must be a general election AND a referendum before we join. If the people vote against, then we will not join. Neither I nor Saga Magazine take a position on whether we should do so. But whether Britain joins or not, the euro will continue to exist and no-one can - or should - ignore it.
Finally, I apologise for the production error which led to the erroneous insertion of six extra zeroes in the expansion of £4 trillion. In international finance, a billion is a thousand million and a trillion a thousand billion. It should have read £4,000,000,000,000. But the point is still the same - the Euroland economy will be almost as big as that of the United States of America - bigger if Britain joins.
January 1999
e-mail Paul Lewis on paul@deadline.demon.co.uk