§ Lord Swinfenasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the event of the United Kingdom joining the single European currency, British oil and gas reserves will be pooled and put on the asset side of the single currency's pan-European balance sheet; and, if not, which Article, Protocol or Declaration in the Treaty on European Union safeguards these assets.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish)The EC Treaty provides for the European Central Bank (ECB) to hold some foreign exchange reserves transferred from member states participating in the single currency, in order to allow the ECB to carry out some of the tasks currently performed by their national central banks. The treaty does not provide for the pooling of other assets such as gas and oil reserves. The treatment of the United Kingdom's oil and gas reserves in balance of payments data or other statistics has no implication for the ownership or control of those reserves.