§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state(a) the name of the document and (b) the date and place of any speech made by members of Her Majesty's Government prior to 9 April 1992 which committed the current administration to acceptance of the principle of economic and monetary union as set out in the treaty on European Union. [21546]
§ Mrs. Angela Knight[holding answer 18 March 1996]: The treaty on European Union was signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992 and came into force on 1 November 1993. Protocol No. 11, annexed to the EC treaty, and section 2 of the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993 mean that the United Kingdom shall not be obliged or committed to move to the third stage of economic and monetary union without a separate decision to do so by the Government and Parliament. We will agree to take part in a single currency only if it is in our national interest to do so, given the circumstances at the time.