Emu’s hidden agenda

A last-minute deal commits Europe to bailing out former French colonies; Jacques Chirac rails against speculators; a loophole in the Maastricht treaty allows Europe to impose exchange controls to protect itself from international capital flows. Coincidence? Bernard Connolly doesn't think so.

What’s the link between the Comoros Islands and interest rates in Germany and Finland? Never even heard of the Comoros? Join the club, the euro club. For the Comoros, soon to be joined by Cape Verde, San Marino and the Vatican City, will from January 1 1999 have a fixed exchange rate with the euro, an arrangement blessed by the Ecofin (the council of EU economics and finance ministers) and hallowed through a formal decision under Article 109(3) of the EU treaty.

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