LECTURE

JOB CREATION AND THE SINGLE CURRENCY

A Lecture by Graham Meadows, Director, European Commission, on 9 September 1998

Mr Meadows is Director of Regional Policy Implementation for France, Germany and the UK.

This was the second talk at the Institution on the single currency, the major current political and economic issue.
The speaker was introduced by Victor Suchar to a large audience assembled to hear his talk about the importance of regional policy for job creation in the event of the UK adopting the single currency, the euro.
Mr Meadows explained the European Commission’s regional policy for creating sustainable jobs He said, “the first thing to consider in a decision to adopt the single currency is whether it will improve living conditions - that is employment opportunities. The difficulty, however, is in creating jobs without creating inflation. Under the current regional policies, funds are directed where unemployment is high. An influx of funds to these areas does not generally result in inflation.”
EU grants to regions are on the basis of need, their effect is measured and the money must be spent within the region. Grants are paid annually for 3 - 5 years. Their use is controlled by the region who form and implement the policy; they have been in operation since 1989 in the UK and, over the period 1989 - 96, have created half a million jobs. Regional policies are effective and do not affect the inflation objective. Whether the £ or the euro is the currency is unimportant.
The discussion which followed was lively and sometimes emotional. The concerns expressed by members of the audience included the loss of jobs attributed to EU policy, such as the fishermen in Cornwall; the lack of direct control over distribution of funds from Brussels; the consequences of the lack of control of interest rates policy; and the inability to make direct contact with officials in Brussels.
Several participants expressed their appreciation to the Institution for creating this forum for debating the single currency and hoped there would be further opportunities for discussion of this critical issue.
Victor Suchar thanked the speaker for his very informative talk, with many points heard for the first time in Bath, and for answering the lively questions posed to him by the audience so fully.
Betty Suchar & Don Lovell