EuroPolls Archive

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that his government will examine the economic case to join the euro within two years of winning the next General Election. Analysts took this as a hint that a British referendum to join the European single currency could be called in 2004 at the earliest.

[Jan-March 2001 Editions] [Top] [Bottom]

Defence Cuts Pose Threat
To World Peace

Shadow Defence Secretary Iain Duncan Smith revealed that the European Union's defence budget has been cut by at least 20 per cent. With stockpiles of chemical, nuclear and biological weapons, potential warheads for Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, now in the hands of countries like Libya and even Iraq, he argued that these cuts pose a threat to world peace.

[Jan-March 2001 Editions] [Top] [Bottom]

Source: BBC News On-line

A year before euro notes and coins will be launched, a survey by five European newspapers recently showed eurozone support for single currency is at a low ebb. Yet the European economy has stepped ahead of the US. Even so the British, and particularly the Irish, ministers were rebuked over spending by other EU finance ministers. Clearly the pro and anti-euro camps had something each to back up their own arguments.

EMU Comment Forum:
A Summary of Email News

In this section the European Movement counters the eurosceptical view that the Eurozone's economy is weak. While the Democracy Movement focuses on the forthcoming General Election, and rethinks its campaign strategy following the eurosceptic's defeat on the BBC's "Referendum Street."

EuroPolls looked at the moves to englarge EU which met a deadlock at the Nice IGC in December 2000. The articles included an analysis of the Nice Treaty.

[Oct-Dec 2000 Editions] [Top] [Bottom]

An estimated 10,000 Eurosceptics marched against the forthcoming Treaty of Nice, and what they termed the "creation of a Eurostate" on Saturday 28th October 2000. Yet the BBC faced accusations of ignoring the march, preferring instead to cover a much smaller protest over ethnic minority issues. The anti-Eurostate marchers of all backgrounds were left amazed but not disappointed.

[Oct-Dec 2000 Editions] [Top] [Bottom]

Euro Rejected By Danish Referendum

The Danish referendum result sent shock waves across the E.U, and saw the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, cooling off his enthusiasm for the single currency.   EuroPolls examines the result and its affects on the British Government's policy.

Picture Source:
BBC News On-line 

Conservative Party and opposition leader William Hague accused the Government today of "not levelling" with the British public. His comments reflected Eurosceptics' concerns that the Government is trying to lead Britain into a European Superstate. Robin Cook, the British foreign secretary, argues that Britain should consider the benefits of Qualified Majority Voting (QMV).He believes that the loss of the UK's veto on certain EU policy areas, in some areas isn't such a bad idea.

[Oct-Dec 2000 Editions] [Top] [Bottom]

Picture Source:
BBC News On-line

Lord Owen: Defining The Limits

Lord Owen believes the time has come to set "the limits of the European Union." At a recent European-Atlantic Group meeting he outlined his views on: European integration, englargement of the E.U, and the beleaguered euro. Almost at the same time, Lady Thatcher and Prime Minister Tony Blair began to battle over the possibility of a European rapid reaction force: a 'Euro army.' Like Lady Thatcher, Lord Owen believes that such an initiative would be potentially distrastrous for NATO.

[Oct-Dec 2000 Editions] [Top] [Bottom]

The former UN Protection Force commander in Bosnia from 1993, General Sir Michael Rose, talked on 20th December 2000 about how best to achieve global peace in the 21st Century. (Audio) Next Event

About the General. EAG 2001 Diary.

[Oct-Dec 2000 Editions [Top] [Bottom]

The Europhiles: The Full Response

The European Movement responds to the Democracy Movement's march, the Danish referendum on the single currency and other issues. The European Movement argues that it is the real democracy movement. While refuting the notion of a European superstate, it says that increased QMV is essential for the expansion of the European Union.

[Oct-Dec 2000 Editions [Top] [Bottom]

The UK has attracted record inward investment from abroad, creating 52,783 jobs and 757 new projects from 30 countries. Yet Virgin's chairman Richard Branson warns Britain of pending economic disaster, if Prime Minister Tony Blair does not act now and lead the pro-euro campaign. Eurosceptics claim that the timing points, with two recent leaks only a few days apart, to a "campaign by stealth."

[1st Edition] [Top] [Bottom]

In September 2000 the Danish people will vote in a referendum on the single currency, the euro. Opinion polls in April showed both sides level-pegging. This is the Danes' first opportunity to present their opinions on Europe since the controversial Maastricht referendum in 1992. Jens-Peter Bonde MEP of the June Movement and Anders Panum Jensen of the Danish European Movement contemplate the result and its effects on Denmark's place in Europe and the world.

[1st Edition] [Top] [Bottom]

UK "is suffering" says ECB Chief

Comments by European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg, suggesting that Britain is suffering outside of the euro, have been rejected by Business for Sterling. The Eurosceptic group's chief executive Nick Herbert said that the UK "has the lowest unemployment for twenty years and record inward investment, more than any country in the Eurozone." Yet the Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking on the BBC's Question Time, still maintains that the euro is right for Britain.

Picture Source (left): BBC News On-line

[1st Edition] [Top] [Bottom]

The cracks of the Cabinet's euro policy continue to wreak havoc for Tony Blair, even though the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown attempts to dampen their effect. The feud over the Government's "prepare and decide" euro strategy, officially denied, is overshadowing the Government's successes involving the EU's controversial withholding tax at the recent summit in Portugal.

[1st Edition] [Top] [Bottom]

As the Government's crisis continues, and as opposition to the euro hits a new high, political commentators suggest that the Cabinet's rift is over more than just the single European currency. In The Guardian on 26th June 2000, Peter Preston argued that this would normally lead to a cabinet reshuffle. He believes that leading Cabinet ministers are jostling for influence.

[1st Edition] [Top] [Bottom]