Abstract
In Maastricht, in 1992, the then 12 members of the European Community decided to move towards an Economic and Monetary Union, with the aim of launching a single currency. But when the European single currency was launched in January 1999 by 11 of the 15 EU member states, Blair decided to exercise the opt-out, negotiated by John Major. Maastricht set four criteria to be met in order to join the euro : the avoidance of excessive government deficits to be less than 3% of GDP for annual debts, and 60% for the stock of government debt; inflation to be no more than 1.5% higher than the best three performing member states; and the currency to stay within the margins of the European Monetary System for at least two years.
