” “Ever less "eurosceptic"” “

How is the advent of the euro being experienced in the countries that decided to remain outside it (United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark)? We put the question to William Keegan , economist and expert on European questions, a commentator famous in Britain for his articles published in the daily “Guardian”, the Sunday “Observer” and the Catholic weekly “The Tablet”. What’s the state of health of the euro? “I think that the stability and growth pact risks giving serious problems to Europe. It’s a compromise made by politicians and is too rigid. The pact establishes, among other things, that the European governments be subject to fines if their budget deficit exceeds 3% of their gross domestic product. This is too restrictive a measure which, at the present time, risks punishing Germany. The European Commission would like Germany to reduce its deficit, despite the fact that it is suffering from a high rate of unemployment and is teetering on the verge of recession”. Will the British end up adopting the euro? “The current opinion among journalists expert on the matter is that Tony Blair wants to go down to history as the Prime Minister who led Great Britain into the euro. On the Prime Minister depends the date of the referendum by which the English will say whether they want the single currency or not; the date is thought to have been already fixed, the 1st May. But the greatest resistance Blair is encountering at home, in the Downing Street he shares with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Minister of Finance and of the Treasury, Gordon Brown. If the Prime Minister succeeds in convincing his Chancellor of the wisdom of holding a referendum there’s a good chance that the majority of the British will say yes to the euro. I believe that, in the long term, if the euro proves successful, Great Britain will undoubtedly join it. I also believe that forming part of the euro would have a positive effect on our economy because we would be forced to devalue the pound sterling which is too high at the moment, with negative consequences on the manufacturing sector”. Is the United Kingdom waiting to see if and how the euro works before deciding to adopt it? “I think so, but this has been, historically, the attitude of our country. The high-circulation tabloids, which usually succeed in convincing their own readers that Europe is a danger, continue to support a presumed economic superiority of the UK to the rest of Europe”. Is the British economy enjoying a positive phase? “We have a boom in consumption, low unemployment and wonderful macroeconomic indicators. Nonetheless many have the feeling that Great Britain is not functioning well, at least as regards health care, education and transport. We all have the impression that these sectors work far better in the rest of Europe. The problem is how long this boom in consumption will last, permitting the eurosceptics to maintain that it’s not in Britain’s interest to form part of the economic and monetary Union. I myself don’t think this extraordinary economic performance of the UK can last for long, because Great Britain is suffering from two decades of underinvestment. I think, however, that in the end Great Britain will join the euro, not least because the English travel a great deal and will rapidly get used to spending this currency”.