(When) will the United Kingdom join the Euro ?

Question

Is it likely that the UK still hasnt joined the Euro in 20 or 30 years?
Or will the finally join it when they notice, that the exchange rate to the Euro is quite stable for a longer period of time....

or is it sill a matter of being "too proud" to put the Queen's head on a Euro note?

Answer 1

Might be in 5-10 years. Not within the next 5 years I would assume.
Economy is already starting to improve in Germany...politicians where more busy arguing during Schröder's legislation period then working...I think they have noticed now and have a bad conscience and really work harder now - they even cooperate more with their enemies/other parties and plenty of urgently needed laws have been created or changed to reduce unemployement, cut unemployment benefits to make lazy people work (they received more money doing nothing then when they went to work) and stop wasting money on the wrong things.

I guess in 5 years, economy will be blooming again in most EU countries. The good thing about the EU is that, even if some countries dont do well..others wil offset against it and make the whole "EU" zone more stable then if it was just depending on a single country. An economic collapse in the EU is virtually impossible. Then the UK might be ready (especially if the housing bubble burst ) and join in order not to loose any more money.

Some doubting people still invest in the sterling instead of the USD as they dont trust the Euro...once they are convinced and start investing in Euro countries only, the Euro will become even more significant over the dollar.

All the fears of the British population have been discussed ages ago...no country of the European Union nor its population would want to loose control or their national identity. The population of the other EU countries are not stupid...nor are their politicians.

The UK will benefit (and already benefitted) a lot from the European Union...e.g. lots of money for building cycling tracks to reduce death tolls....(which they havent done..just painted some red tracks on the streets that end in the middle of a busy road). In fact Germany paid most money to the EU and received hardly anything in return. So Germany must be the country that is against the EU instead of the UK who received a lot of money that the German tax payers have paid!)
Still, they are in favour of the model of the European Union.
The fiercest critics in the UK know hardly anything about the reasons, goals and coherences of the European Union..which is a shame. Also pupils hardly learn anything about it at school and kept "stupid" about it, which might account for some of the postings on here.

Once there are more student exchanges with other EU countries and pupils start getting honestlly interested in learning foreign languages and discover their interest in travelling outside of Ibiza and Gran Canaria...they will notice the benefits of he European Union and being a "European resident". Uk students moan at the tuition fees - most dont even know they could study in other EU countries for free, receive lots of money for it...and even do a univesity course in English (some!).

Nobody ever attempted or attempts to make "Europe" into a single and uniform country. One of the core ideas of the Eurpean Union is to preserve the cultural differences and to help countries to preseve their history and traditions. I can not believe most of the people on here have ever read any of the EU documents, papers or books....

The ideas of the European Union are great. Of course, there are always things to improve...and they will.

I personally prefer the German D-Mark instead of the Euro - just because the figures looked better on my bank account - but this sould never been an argument....every one has to make a small scarifice somewhere - but the return is worth it.

Answer 2

I think they probably won't join the Euro for a long time (as the UK) because the general public does not really know enough about the good bits of the EU to want to join....the Media only reports the bad rumours or the issues in a negative way.

Also people don't like change, there is no way of saying with the UK in the Euro that it will remain stable - and despite the sceptics I think the general public is proud to be different and Independent. - Joining the Euro would be the start of a downfall of the monarch generally.

Maybe if Scotland becomes an Independent state within the next decade or two, they will be the first to join - i reckon!

Answer 3

The UK will only join the Euro when it is ready to do so and the Euro Zone has met the high standards set by the Treasury and Bank of England.

In the immediate future such a move seems unlikely. Firstly the British people are opposed to it and secondly the Euro economy is not exactly steady right now, whereas the UK economy is on a roll and we're booming ahead.

If the British people elect a Conservative government, the UK will remain outside the Euro Zone for as long as they're in power, that's guaranteed. The Labour Party and government know the back lash for taking UK into the Euro Zone will be massive and on such a scale that Labour will never ever be elected again.

In 1961 I purchased a bronze Roman coin from an Arab boy in a Roman city in Libya. On that coin was the head of the Emperor Hadrian. I knew that not only was Hadrian the Emperor of Rome, but that he had also been Govenor of Britain. Roman coinage was in use until about the 4th century AD. The Roman Empire crashed, so too did its currency and so too will the Euro.

KEEP THE ENGLISH POUND.

Answer 4

Currency
The relatively good economic performance has complicated the Blair government's efforts to make a case for Britain to leave the Pound Sterling and join the Euro. The British Prime Minister has pledged to hold a public referendum if membership meets Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's "five economic tests". The tests are:
1. Are business cycles and economic structures compatible with European interest rates on a permanent basis?
2. If problems emerge, is there sufficient flexibility to deal with them?
3. What impact would entry into the euro have on the UK's financial services industry?
4. Would joining the euro create better conditions for firms making long-term decisions to invest in Britain?
5. Would joining the euro promote higher growth, stability and a lasting increase in jobs?
When assessing the tests, Gordon Brown concluded that while the decision was close, the United Kingdom should not yet join the Euro. In particular, he cited fluctuations in house prices as a barrier to immediate entry. The tests will be reassessed in the future. Public opinion polls show that a majority of Britons are currently

Answer 5

I think it will be unlikely that we will adopt the Euro in the near future (although in some aspects it would be quite handy - I don't know if anyone else here has enough Euro change knocking around to sink a small battleship, but I certainly do and just want to use it up! :o>). It would be a hard thing for politicians to make popular enough and (ironically) it would cost a fortune (Euros or £) to handle the conversion. (Think switching anything that can accept coins/notes to Euros, re-educating the public, ensuring that accounts, wages systems, etc are converted in time, etc as a bare minimum and you get the idea). In a recession I don't think it's that likely. Politically it would also be a nightmare. However, some shops in Central London do accept Euros as well as £ so there may be a glimmer of accuracy in what your friend suggests about coin machines able to accept them.

Answer 6

First answers intresting isn't it? Having the Euro would not mean we inherit anybodys debt. It would lower our costs though. Cost of sending money to any euro using country from my euro account .......zero. Cost of sending money to the UK €30 I can spend my cash in lots of countries. If I visit the UK I can pay up to 10% of my cash to have my money changed. The same for Brits travelling abroad. If Brits were told that tax was going up 10% there would be a riot, but we are quite happy to be fleeced every time we travel . But the £ is so much better they cry. Rubbish, look how the euro has performed againt the £ and the fact that the euro is now a better reserve currency to have and you can see that in a few years the UK will be left behind again. Like it was by the entering the European Communitay late in the first place.

Answer 7

I hate the Euro and hope that the answer is never. However, if you look on the back of a Euro note, you'll see a letter in front of the serial number. The letters tell you which country issued the note. Britain has definitely been issued with an identifying letter which i think (but don't quote me) might be J. Why have we been given this letter if we are not going to join? I think there's a secret agenda!

Answer 8

If Gordon Brown takes over,and MP's have their way,its likely we will join.! I sincerely hope we do NOT!!!
There will be substantial costs of membership: increased variability of UK output, employment and prices in response to shocks; damaging harmonisation of tax rates, social support and regulation; and the possibility that British taxpayers will have to meet some of the costs of big projected state pension deficits in Germany, France and Italy. Its against British interests to join. The best thing for Britain is to pull out of Europe all together!!!

Answer 9

Keep away from it if possible. Monopoly money is worth more. Trust me, we have it here in Ireland and everything went up in price not match the price... Like all money, it would be fine if we had enough of it..
The Punt was worth more..
I think there is a little bit of pride to keep the queen's head on the money also..
Keep the Pound as long as ye can..

Answer 10

the euro has been faling against the pound quicker than the us dollar (that's gotta be bad). Europe only wants us to join so that we can pull their bling back out of the toilet while depositing our economy in it. Why would we wanna do that?