15-05-2003 17:44									#31
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And then?

	15-05-2003 17:45									#32
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Hopefully we can ditch the pound, the queen, the anthem and the flag and join Europe properly.

	15-05-2003 17:48									#33
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Silly Britons... you're still America's b1tch!

	15-05-2003 17:48									#34
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Well the anthem, queen and the flag can go. I don't care who's head is on the currecy or what you call it, I just wnat my elected politicians to have some control over it

	15-05-2003 17:50									#35
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You can still have the Queen on the Euro coins.

	15-05-2003 17:53									#36
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My point was that it deosn't matter who is on the coins or notes and that it is a bigger issue than that. (unbelievably some people will actually campaign on the issue of whose head is on the currency)

	15-05-2003 17:56									#37
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I think sooner or later we have to choose between being America's economic b1tch and being a proper part of Europe and bearing in mind that politically, economically and culturally I feel I have much more in common with Europeans than Americans I'd rather be part of Europe.

	15-05-2003 17:58									#38
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quote: Originally posted by HershOstropoler You can still have the Queen on the Euro coins.

I'd rather not.

My vote would be to have Brittania on the coins.

	15-05-2003 17:58									#39
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I think I have alot in common with both, so I'd like to remain independant.

	15-05-2003 18:25									#40
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I prefer my Government NOT to have Influence on the Currency, thanks.

	15-05-2003 18:27									#41
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You want someone elses governmnet to run it

	15-05-2003 19:08									#42
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As I remember the ECB is in Essence based on the German Federal Bank which is based on the US Federal Reserve which is supposed to be independent?

	15-05-2003 19:09									#43
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I wonder which influence this might have on Europe s biggest stock Market-London.

	15-05-2003 19:10									#44
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Almost. The German Bundesbank and the ECB ARE independent, the US Fed is supposedly independent.

	15-05-2003 19:14									#45
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I want independence up to a point, but the politicians have to chose the targets and who sits on the board of the central bank. At the moment the central bank that sets UK interst rates is accountable to UK chancellor and to parliament.

	15-05-2003 19:17									#46
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The ECB is far from independent; as seen by the fact that Duisenburg successor can be any nationality as long as they're French.

	15-05-2003 19:18									#47
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The ECB will rotate Frenchman, German, someone else,Frenchman,German and so on

	15-05-2003 19:25									#48
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Talking of Duisenburg's successor, why isn't he being paraded around the media and have a high profile? Because he's on trial. Do we really want to hand our power to set our interest rates over to this organisation?

As for selecting the best people to do the job, see the quote from the Prime Minister of Luxembourg on the appointment; "If Trichet is not in a position to get the job, another Frenchman will be nominated".

Merit obviously has no place on the continent.

	15-05-2003 19:30									#49
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No they dish jobs on a which ex prime minister needs the job most and will do what we want him to do.

Oh and why does Luxembourg ahve any say whatsoever

	15-05-2003 19:30									#50
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Iain, that's a funny thing to say. The ECB governors are political appointees, just as the equivalent positions everywhere. The important thing is that they are independent in exercising their position once appointed - and they usually suffer a severe Becket syndrome that moment. Former BB President Tietmayer is an excellent example for that.

And of course, merry ol' England is known as a bastion of meritocracy, especially in politics.

	15-05-2003 19:31									#51
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quote: Oh and why does Luxembourg have any say whatsoever

I assume he's just being used as a mouthpiece. One would assume he would know what was going on...

	15-05-2003 19:32									#52
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quote: The ECB governors are political appointees, just as the equivalent positions everywhere. The important thing is that they are independent in exercising their position once appointed

Do you really believe that? Why would France be so desperate to ensure that the ECB President is French if it was not in their interest?

	15-05-2003 19:34									#53
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quote: Originally posted by HershOstropoler And of course, merry ol' England is known as a bastion of meritocracy, especially in politics.

Well it might not be known for it(steryotypes are just too much fun to dismiss if the facts disagree) but we are getting better all the time.

The current government(and im no supporter) is meritocratic

	15-05-2003 19:45									#54
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"Why would France be so desperate to ensure that the ECB President is French if it was not in their interest?"

Supposed Prestige. The french political elite does a lot of stupid things for that.

"The current government(and im no supporter) is meritocratic"

Every government is recruited by negative selection.

	15-05-2003 19:57									#55
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It is worth remembering that the various EU institutions are basically a carve up. The various member countries each basically get to nominate for a number of posts. The French and Germans decide most and the smaller countries get a few each.

The UK doesn't really get its fair share - mainly because we don't play the system very well due to a historic reluctance to make deals with those sneaky unreliable europeans.

[disclaimer] national stereotyping, not my personal view [/disclaimer]

	15-05-2003 20:01									#56
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If you ask any country, it never gets its fair share of anything. Moot point.

	15-05-2003 20:07									#57
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Moot point indeed, my comment was more on the point that the UK government apparatus must overcome its perception that europe is the enemy if we are ever to successfully operate as a european country.

	15-05-2003 20:13									#58
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"its perception that europe is the enemy"

True, especially when other governments have fund out a long time ago that europe is the perfect scapegoat.

	15-05-2003 20:22									#59
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Can someone explain to me why America is able to cope with a single interest rate but Europe apparently can't?

The US can't cope with it sometimes. There have been long periods of dreadful geographic dissonance. You could make the case that the Southeast had the short end of the stick for 130 years until about 1995.

	15-05-2003 20:23									#60
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It appears that the UK government will now argue about this for a few weeks before agreeing with Gordon Brown.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3029715.stm