Euro Myths - Britain's World Role (Andrew Duff MEP)

Andrew Duff MEP <info@andrewduffmep.org.uk>

Britain's World Role

Britain would enhance its influence in the world by ruling out the option to join a successful single currency. This is untrue. Sir Andrew Stark, former British Ambassador to the United Nations, has said: "It is ludicrous to suggest that Britain's global influence would be enhanced by ruling out the option to join a successful single currency."
Britain has more a global pattern of trade than other EU countries which would be disrupted by membership of the single currency. This is untrue. The EU is Britain's most important market, and Britain has very similar trading patterns to other large EU member states. Britain sends over 58% of its goods exports to the EU as opposed to only 13.2% to the USA and indeed 14.9% to the whole of NAFTA.
Britain now has different patterns of trade to most other European Union countries. It is uniquely dependent upon non-euro-zone exports. This is untrue. The proportion of British exports to non-euro-zone countries is much the same as that of Germany and Italy and actually less than Ireland, Belgium, Denmark or the Netherlands.
Britain joined the EU against the wishes of the Commonwealth. This is untrue. Gough Whitlam, the then Prime Minister of Australia, said in 1974: "I do not want to give any impression that the present Australian Government sees any advantages for Australia, for Europe or for the world in Britain leaving the [European] Community."
Sterling will be more stable against the dollar than will the euro. Not necessarily and since far more of Britain's trade is with the euro-zone than with America, exchange rate stability vis-a-vis the single currency is far more important than stability against the dollar, particularly since an increasing proportion of trade is expected to take place in the euro.
Overseas investors come to Britain because we are a global player at the edge of Europe, despite our membership of the EU. This is untrue. The recent Anderson Consulting report Business, Britain and Europe has said: "British success in gaining foreign investment is due to our position as a gateway to the European Single Market - over two thirds of the exports of the top 20 UK based foreign investors are destined for somewhere else in Europe."

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