"The tenth anniversary of the euro is a perfect opportunity to re-open the debate on whether Britain's long-term economic future lies with eurozone membership. The evidence suggests that it does," said Richard Corbett, deputy leader of the Labour delegation to the European Parliament, during a press conference in Strasbourg on Tuesday (13 January).
Apart from the usual economic and political reasons, the new underpinning argument in favour of switching to the euro is the worsening effects of the financial and economic crisis on Britain, coupled with the subsequent rapid depreciation of the pound.
A strong pound has always been seized upon by British Eurosceptics as one of the main arguments against euro membership. A powerful currency suits the main economic interests of national businessmen, which were among the first to outsource services and labour, benefitting from favourable exchange rates when re-importing to Britain.
But sterling's steady decline in value against the euro since November has significantly weakened this argument. Indeed, the euro has now hit close to parity with the British currency. The Bank of England's latest interest rate cut, which saw rates slashed last week to 1.5%, their lowest level ever, is expected to exacerbate the situation, regardless of the possibility of new rate cuts by the European Central Bank, which may on Thursday bring eurozone interest rates down to 2% from their current level of 2.5%.
However, this view is not at all shared in Britain. In a poll carried out by BBC in January, 71% of British interviewees said they were against eurozone membership, and just 15% said they would be ready to adopt the euro as a consequence of the pound's fall.
"The pound's recent fall in value in no way strengthens the case for Britain to give up our currency. The weak pound is a side effect of Labour's recession and a weak economy. Just because our own government has lost control of the British economy, that does not justify handing over control to the EU," said Timothy Kirkhope, leader of British Conservatives in the European Parliament.
Meanwhile, debating eurozone membership is back on the political agendas of other usually Eurosceptic countries, namely Denmark, Sweden and crisis-hit Iceland.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen last October proposed a new referendum in Denmark in 2011 to decide whether to join the currency (EurActiv 31/10/08). "The outcome of any future Danish referendum on the euro would have enormous significance for Sweden's attitudes towards the common currency," responded Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
After the collapse of many national banks in Iceland, which remains outside the EU, pro-euro arguments gathered momentum, too. However, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn made clear that Brussels would not accept Reykjavik's adoption of the euro without full EU membership.
