Monetary Union, warns Malcolm Rifkind the British foreign secretary, will be a radical and divisive departure from 40 years of common Policies. "Europe will be divided between those countries that are part of economic and monetary union, and those countries that are not, he said. "This is not what the founding fathers had in mind."
Hints of a potential rupture are already apparent in the strained relations between Germany and southern EU members. While many Germans fear the inclusion of the lira and the peseta will produce a weak euro, leaders of Italy, Spain and Portugal have stepped up their campaign to join monetary union at the outset.