How do you propose to sell this to the British people Rejoiners? If you want to go back into the EU you have to lose the Pound
The UK would have to give up the oldest continuous currency in the world
The pound sterling is the world’s oldest currency. It has been in existence since around 800 AD. If the UK rejoined the EU it would have to accept the Euro as its currency, foregoing over one thousand two hundred years of tradition, pedigree, and reputation.
Still today, the British pound is the fourth most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the US dollar, the euro, and the yen. At the end of 2022, sterling was the fourth most-held reserve currency around the world.
Given that the United Kingdom is a small country of less than 70 million people, this is not a bad record.
Who uses the Euro as its currency?
Introduced on 01 January 1999, the Euro replaced the national currencies of 20 of the 27 EU member countries. Actual banknotes and coins were not introduced until 2002. The Deutsche Mark, the Franc and the Lira then disappeared. The Euro is only 21 years old, as far as ordinary people are concerned.
Six of the other seven EU Member States — Denmark is excluded under a special arrangement — are committed under the EU Treaty to adopt the Euro. They have no choice other than to fulfil the Treaty’s convergence criteria as quickly as possible.
The EU countries not currently using the Euro (but required to do so) are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Sweden. As previously stated, Denmark currently has an opt-out, but this will not be available to new joiners.
Since Brexit, the Euro has lost 11% of its value
It is now accepted that well before Brexit the British pound was viewed as being overvalued. Against the US Dollar it had been on a downward trend for years.
What is less widely known is that the Euro has also been falling since Brexit. The UK (minus Northern Ireland) finally left the EU on 01 January 2021 following the end of the ‘Transition Period’. I analysed the figures from the US Federal Reserve and I show the results below.
Value of the Euro compared to the US Dollar
- Jan 2021 : €1 = $1.22
- May 2023 : €1 = $1.09
[Source: US Federal Reserve, 29 May 2023.]
All new EU members must adopt the Euro
Importantly, all new members are required to adopt the Euro. This would apply to the UK as well as to Scotland if the SNP got their wish and it became an “independent” country.
To quote the European Central Bank (ECB), “adopting the euro is an important step of EU membership.”
For the UK to rejoin the EU it would have to meet the strict criteria set out by the EU Commission and the ECB. There would be no say in the UK Parliament over this. The unelected technocrats in the EU Commission and the ECB would dictate. The British people would have no voice on these terms.
Total loss of control
It is important to stress that the British people would be powerless in the face of the EU’s technocrats. Once again I quote from the ECB:-
“Convergence must also be sustainable, meaning that satisfying the economic convergence criteria at one point in time is not enough — they need to be met on a lasting basis. This is very important for countries sharing a single currency. They need to ensure that their economies are resilient, so that the currency union can function smoothly and all members can reap the benefits of monetary stability.
“There are also legal requirements — for example, national legislation must be compatible with the Treaties and, in particular, with the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank.”
- European Central Bank, 29 May 2023
Finally, the Eurozone is now racking up substantial debts. €1/4 trillion on the EU Commission’s ‘Green Deal’ alone. Sooner or later the currency markets will wake up to this.
I began this report by asking if Rejoiners seriously think they could persuade the British public to ditch a currency they have been using for 1,200 years.
I believe they might struggle on this one.
In fact, I know they will because in February 2024 Ominisis a well-respected Polling company put forward a poll were this happened
First they asked British people if were they for staying out of the EU or Rejoining
The answers came back
STAY OUT 37%
REJOIN 63%
However, Ominisis did a follow-up question and the answers were startling
Suddenly once they knew adopting the EURO was a condition
STAY OUT 52%
REJOIN 48%
This is proof that even many Rejoiners once they know that rejoining means losing the £ now shy away from going back to the EU.
EU fanatics like organisations like European Movment UK and its many offshoots will try to pretend the UK doesn’t need to join the Euro, and that it can be ‘negotiated away’.
It's all nonsense. One thing the last seven years have taught us all is just how immovable, obstinate and obstreperous the bureaucrats in the EU can be.
Like the EU? Then ditch the Pound and love the Euro. You have no other choice.
So no we will not be going back to the EU, especially as the whole way the EU is changing which I have written about before, because not even Denmark is safe from the agreement it has with the EU. They are safe for the moment but there will come a time in the next ten years when the EU will not only insist but actualy take over Denmark's parliament
[ Sources: ECB | EU Commission
