UK Adopting the Euro?

James Joyner | December 01, 2008

The European Commission president says Britain is closer to joining the Eurozone. This is apparently news to the Brits.

The UK is "closer than ever before" to joining the euro, according to the European Commission's president. Jose Manuel Barroso told French radio that British politicians were considering the move because of the effects of the global credit crunch.

However Downing Street said its position on the euro remained the same. Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said it was "extraordinary" ministers were talking EU about joining the euro "behind the British people's backs".

In 1997 Gordon Brown set five economic tests which he had to judge were met before recommending UK euro entry. The key test is whether the UK economy is coming together with those of countries in the eurozone and whether this can be sustained in the long-term. The second test, linked to this, is whether there is sufficient flexibility to cope with economic change. The remaining three tests assess the impact of joining the euro on jobs, foreign investment and the financial services industry.

Mr Brown has been seen as less keen on the UK adopting the euro than predecessor as prime minister, Tony Blair.

Opinion polls have suggested that any vote on scrapping the pound and adopting the euro would be lost, and in the UK the currency has not been a significant political issue for years.

One wonders whether Barroso knows something the Brown government doesn't wish to devulge or is merely popping off. Then again, "closer than ever" is not the same as "close."