§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
How, under Article 109J2 of the Treaty of Rome, they intend to judge whether member states "fulfil the necessary conditions for the adoption of a single currency", and to what extent they intend that those "necessary conditions" should reflect the convergence criteria which will have been considered by the Commission in the formulation of its prior report to the Council under Article 109J1.
§ Lord Mackay of ArdbrecknishArticle 109j(2) of the EC Treaty requires the Council of Ministers to assess, for each member state, whether it fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of the single currency. According to the Treaty, this assessment will be carried out on the basis of reports from the Commission and the EMI under Article 109j(1). These reports will examine the extent of the achievement of a high degree of sustainable convergence by reference to the four convergence criteria, and also taking account of other factors referred to in the final paragraph of Article 109j(1).
Whether or not we seek to join, it is in the UK's interests for the single currency to be a success if it goes ahead. The Government will continue to argue that EMU should be based on lasting convergence, and not just on the achievement of the numerical criteria in any given year.