UK business in favour of joining euro says CBI

A new survey says UK business is in favour of joining the single European currency, although only a small number believe it should be within the next two years.

The research by the Confederation of British Industry found only 10% of companies were opposed to the euro. But most pro-euro companies are still wary of rushing in too quickly - only 19% want the UK to join within two years.

The survey was based on responses from 1,700 businesses and found that most companies thought UK membership would bring economic benefits, though there were still concerns about the overall success of EMU.

Sir Clive Thompson, president of the CBI, said the results endorsed previous surveys which gave qualified approval. "A significant body of members would like the UK to commit to entry by 2005," Thompson said, "while many would prefer a date to be fixed only when conditions for successful entry are in place. Others believe that we should wait and see without commitment to a specific date at this time."

But the CBI has been attacked for being out of touch by the anti-euro pressure group Business for Sterling (BfS), who say the CBI only speaks for a tiny percentage of UK business.

"The CBI has only 2,300 members out of 3.7 million businesses in the UK," said Nick Herbert, chief executive of BfS. "They are dominated by pro-euro diehards and downsizing multinationals. They simply do not represent the views of most businesses on this issue."

A BfS poll in March, in which 63% of the firms questioned wanted to keep the pound, was dismissed by the CBI at the time.

Gary Cutlack