§ Mr. Kenneth BakerTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he intends to take in 1993 to fulfil the requirements of the Maastricht treaty in respect of moving to stage 2 of economic and monetary union.
§ Mr. Lamont[holding answer 22 January 1993]: The requirements for action by member states before stage 2 begins are set out in article 109e(2)(a) of the Maastricht treaty and the Government will meet the requirements, as qualified by the provisions of the United Kingdom protocol to the treaty.
Article 109e(2)(a) obliges member states to abolish restrictions on capital movements, to cease borrowing from central banks, to end the privileged access of public bodies to financial institutions and, if necessary, to adopt multiannual convergence programmes for assessment by the Council. Since the United Kingdom Government have no restrictions on capital movements, fund their borrowing each year by sales of debt to the private sector, have no privileged access to financial institutions, and regularly adopt a multiannual economic programme in the medium term financial strategy, this will not involve significant changes to current policies or monetary arrangements. But it may be necessary to make some technical changes to the methods of issuing Government debt instruments.