Britannia Radio

All I can say is that if Barroso thinks that,  he is clearly not fit 
for the post he occupies!

There is not one serious commentator  or economist who has publicly 
voiced such a ludicrous opinion !  Indeed many have ridiculed the 
whole idea including a notable German economist.   I don’t know who 
Barroso talks to,  but perhaps he has been listening to the twice-
shamed crook and general conspirator, Mandelson?   Such people have 
their own agenda which is a federalist one, an agenda which is 
anathema to most Britons.

Nevertheless watch the federalists.  They only think of the good of a 
greater EU, not of Britain.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX CS
========================
EU OBSERVER   1.12.08
Britain closer to euro, Barroso says
    LUCIA KUBOSOVA

The global credit crunch has sparked a debate about joining the euro 
among "people who matter in Britain," European Commission President 
Jose Manuel Barroso has said.

Speaking on a French RTL radio and LCI television show on Sunday (30 
November), Mr Barroso argued that the entry to the eurozone of some 
EU member states who had previously strongly opposed the move is "now 
closer than ever before."

"I'm not going to break the confidentiality of certain conversations, 
but some British politicians have already told me, 'If we had the 
euro, we would have been better off'," he said.

"I don't mean to say that it will be tomorrow and I know that the 
majority in Britain are still opposed, but there is a period of 
consideration under way and the people who matter in Britain    [and 
who might thery be, if not the ‘majority in Britain’ ? -cs ] are 
currently thinking about it", the former Portuguese prime minister 
added.

Apart from the countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007, the UK 
is one of three western European member states - along with Sweden 
and Denmark - that have abstained from joining the common currency, 
partly due to the views of the current British prime minister Gordon 
Brown.

Despite the Labour party promising to adopt the euro ahead of its 
election in 1997, current leader and former finance minister Gordon 
Brown has historically resisted such calls, arguing that the British 
economy was not ready.

He has over the years presented several reports describing how the 
scrapping of the pound would harm employment and investment in the 
country's jobs and investment.

But according to the head of the EU's executive, the financial crisis 
has now changed the argument. The pound has suffered from problems in 
both the financial sector and the real economy, with 2 million jobs 
expected to go by the end of this year. [ The only thing that has 
cushioned the  crisis for Britain brought on by Brown’s 10 year 
profligacy, has been the floating pound.  Had it not been for this we 
would be in the position of total collapse faced by Ireland already -cs]

A Downing Street spokesperson played down suggestions by Mr Barroso 
however, saying: "We have no comment on this. Our position on the 
euro is the same - it has not changed," BBC reported.

Iceland considering unilateral euro adoption
A similar debate to that in Britain [There is N O debate in Britain! -
cs] is a step further in Denmark, with government officials actively 
explaining to the public the country's cost in not being part of the 
eurozone, Mr Barroso suggested.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said last month that he 
would try to achieve a broad public consensus on holding a referendum 
on the euro,, which analysts expect in March or April next year.   
[Denmark already shadows the euro and has done so for a considerable 
period.  Therefore adoptung it formally is no big deal -cs]

Meanwhile, Iceland is considering switching to the euro even without 
a green light from EU institutions and despite their warnings against 
such a unilateral move.
"People are looking into the possibility of [something similar to] 
'dollarisation,' or unilateral adoption of the euro, which would 
probably raise a lot of eyebrows in the European Union," Icelandic 
Prime Minister Geir Haarde said in an interview on Saturday (29 
November), Reuters reported.

Mr Haarde said that the issue is "an open question at the moment," 
while noting that the process of joining the EU and the common 
currency according to the normal procedures and guidelines would take 
two to three years.

"Clearly, this debate is not the answer to the current crisis," he 
said. Until now, the prime minister's Independence Party has been 
sceptical about EU membership.

For its part, the European Commission has warned Reykjavik it cannot 
adopt the euro without joining the 27-strong Union.  [But it COULD 
tie its own currency to the euro unilaterally if it wished -cs]

The eurozone currently consists of 15 member states, with Slovakia 
set to join on 1 January 2009.