I POLL

The iPoll is a synergy between MaltaToday, the Internet and you the readers.

Every week the web sites www.maltatoday.com.mt and www.maltamag.com will feature an opinion poll on a particular issue. The results of this Internet poll will then be published in MaltaToday the following Sunday along with an opinion article.

People who send in the attached coupon with their voting preference will automatically participate in a competition. One lucky participant will be put into a draw for a chance to win a Kia Rio.

This week’s issue, although seemingly still distanced from life in Malta, concerns the island in more ways than one. On 1 January 2002, 12 European Union countries will adopt a single currency. Business conducted with these countries will be done in Euros and travelling will not necessitate the exchange of currencies. We asked a political activist to give us his views on the issue.

The Euro is coming

By James Debono

On 1 January 2002 the Euro will substitute national currencies in 12 EU countries. Then people will see the Euro not only on their bank statement but also feel the coins in their pockets.
People travelling within the Euro area will no longer have to change their own currency into a foreign currency, prices will be comparable without using calculators, bank-transfers within the EC countries will get cheaper and business will become simpler.
As for us Maltese, we will still have to change our currency when travelling to Euroland, but travelling from one Euro country to another will become easier.
The common currency will contribute to a better understanding of the European ideal. Therefore, in the long run, the Euro will strengthen the concept of a European identity.
The left-wing Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, known as Red Ken, is one of the leaders of the pro-Euro campaign in the United Kingdom. He says, "It would have a massively beneficial effect. If we were to vote not to join the Euro, then over a period of time, literally hundreds of thousands of jobs would leave London. Many of our manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last four years, because the pound has been grossly over-valued."
Yet this does not mean that Euroland is devoid of problems. For the common European citizen the Euroland is very much like Disneyland. Things seem to happen in very mysterious ways in secret places like the European Central Bank. The ECB is the key to economic policy at the European level.
To make the Euro - and the economic and monetary policy of the Union as a whole - acceptable to the European citizens the European Union needs to embark on the road of democratisation. The ECB has developed into one of the most powerful institutions within the Union but it lacks democratic legitimisation. The mandate of such bodies should only go, as far as their technical competence warrants. All decisions, based on more than a purely technical judgement, need democratic control or at least accountability.
Hopefully, the independent and technocratic ECB would be made more accountable to democratic institutions. This does not mean that the ECB should be subject to direct political control from governments or parliaments.
Elected political leaders should decide the acceptable inflation rate for their economic policy. The ECB should also be given a clear mandate to pursue growth and employment with the same vigour as price stability. The European Greens are proposing the transformation of the Stability and Growth Pact into a Pact for Sustainable Economic Development. Job creation, through such measures as the European endorsement of the 35 hour week, should be as much a priority as monetary union. The European Greens are also proposing that the European Parliament should be the partner of the ECB and should have full consultative rights.
The minutes of the meetings of the governing board of the ECB should be published and it should be the choice of any country in the European Union whether or not it wishes to join the common currency.
Joining the Euro has helped the Italians to acquire a greater sense of financial discipline and responsibility. The Centre-Left coalition, with the tacit support of the left-wing Bertinotti, managed to join the Euro without sacrificing social justice.
Finally, the Euro objective would also oblige Maltese governments to handle the country’s finances with more care and discipline. But the principle of social justice should be respected at all times.Mr Debono is a Green Party activist and media personality.