Saving the Pound?
Britain's Road to Monetary Union
By Alasdair Blair
June 2002
Longman / Pearson Education
ISBN: 0-582-47290-3
277 pages
$69.50 paper original
"At last an author has produced a well written, exceptionally well-illustrated and above all properly historically-informed work on this vital issue in UK-EU relations. The author's thesis is sustained by a clear and cogent analysis of the various negotiating positions adopted by successive UK authorities on the question of monetary union. In the process he highlights the peculiar and evolving nature of British attitudes towards European monetary integration and shows that this was always colored by wider linkages to the USA. This is a well illustrated and clearly argued text which students and practitioners alike will find of great assistance in understanding and unraveling this minefield of technical issues, negotiating strategies and downright political intrigue"
--- David Baker.
The relevance and importance of a study of British policy towards Monetary Union derives from the significance of this policy area to domestic affairs. It is widely acknowledged that successive British governments have been lukewarm to Economic and Monetary Union, but it is less clear as to the reasons for this. Saving the Pound places Britain's negotiating position on monetary union within a wider context of domestic governance. Particular attention is given to policy-making and decision taking within Whitehall, especially the power and influence of the Treasury to shape policy on EMU.
FEATURES: clear & authoritative account & analysis of the development of British policy; numerous boxes & tables ; detailed chronologies and key terms throughout; opening and closing chapter sections providing wider ranging reviews of British policy within the wider context of the European Union; the book examines whether a reluctant stance towards policy developments on EMU (and the ERM) has affected British interests within the European Union.
Alasdair Blair is Jean Monnet Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Coventry University. His publications include The Making of Britain's European Foreign Policy (with Anthony Forster, 2002), The Longman Companion to the European Union since 1945 (1999) and Dealing with Europe- Britain and the negotiation of the Maastricht Treaty (1999).
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