43/98
3 April 1998
DAVID SIMON URGES BRITISH BUSINESS TO PREPARE FOR THE EURO
David Simon, joint DTI and Treasury Minister working with business to accelerate preparations for the euro launch, said today:
"British business must be ready for the opportunities and challenges of the introduction of the single currency on 1 January 1999."
Attending the first of three regional breakfast meetings with local business leaders focusing on euro preparations, he continued:
"The launch of the euro is now less than nine months away. It will have a fundamental impact on the European business environment. Even though the UK is not joining next year, British business must be ready to seize the opportunities and prepare for the challenges that the euro will bring.
"Preparation is the key to success. The Government is committed to helping business to compete effectively in a market where many firms will be using the euro from January 1999.
"These discussions will enable me to listen first hand to the views of business people on what they are doing to prepare for the euro, and what the Government can do to help."
David Simon was speaking in Bristol at the first of three breakfast meetings with business leaders. Other meetings will be held in Belfast on 9 April and Manchester on 23 April.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said last October that the Government was committed to stepping up work on what business should do to prepare for the euro launch in 1999. These meetings are an important part of that process.
President of the Board of Trade Margaret Beckett will chair a regional seminar on 5 May in Birmingham. Further seminars are planned for Wales and Scotland. These seminars are another opportunity for government to hear directly from business what preparations are underway and what more needs to be done.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced to Parliament on 27 October 1997 that the UK would not join the single currency on 1 January 1999, and that there was no realistic prospect of our joining during this Parliament. But he said that, to create the real option of joining early in the next Parliament, it was essential that Government and business prepare intensively during this Parliament. (HMT Press Release 126/97)
2. On 5 December 1997, the Chancellor announced the setting up of a Euro Preparations Unit in HM Treasury, with assistance from the Department for Trade and Industry, to help with business and public authority preparations. One of the EPU's main objectives is to ensure that UK businesses are ready for the introduction of the euro in other European countries on 1 January 1999. (HMT Press Release 156/97)
3. Copies of HMT publications on EMU and a range of other topics are available from the Treasury Public Enquiry Unit on 0207 270 4558.
4. Media enquiries about this press release and other matters relating to the single currency should be addressed to Charles Keseru on 0207 270 5188.