SPEECH BY PIA KJAERSGAARD MP Leader of the Danish People's Party TO THE THIRD CONGRESS FOR DEMOCRACY, 10 December 1999

Firstly, I would like to say thank you for asking me to speak here at the Third Congress for Democracy.

It is for me, a very special honour to speak here in Church House, where some of the House of Commons meetings were held during the Second World War. It is here where Churchill gave some of his speeches, which apart from firing the hearts of the British people in their difficult conquest, also helped to give the Danish people their strength during the Nazi occupation.

The daily transmissions from the BBC gave self confidence to the Danes and indeed the inspiration and will to rise up against the occupation. The speeches gave the British soldier his self-sacrificing courage, which in fact the whole of the British nation showed us during the war and which was a source of admiration.

I can assure you that during those dark days, the Danish people's warm friendship with the British people was steadfastly anchored. Since then, the Danes have first and foremost quite naturally looked towards Britain as our allies in Europe. Here we found real democracy and proper values, just as we on the human plain found a close kinship.

Therefore - and not just for economic reasons with regard to our agricultural exports - it would have been unthinkable for us back in1972 to step into the EEC without Britain doing so too. At the time, just like us, the British were given the impression that the EEC was merely a trade agreement: an agreement that would make things easier when trading goods, and help to dissolve protectionism.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be something entirely different!

Nearly every year we are faced with new demands - that bind us tighter and tighter - towards that federal state that the peoples of Europe don't want.

Having said this, I would like to make it quite clear that I am absolutely convinced that both our countries have the backbone to stand up against the mess we have got ourselves into. It's not going to be easy. The powers we are up against are dreadfully strong.

The next battle that has to be won, and which might end up being the decisive battle, is their plan to abolish our national currencies. What little is remaining of our nation's sovereignty will no longer exist, if economic politics is organised in a European Central Bank.

My Party, the Danish People's Party, has taken a lively interest in your campaign "Keeping the Pound" and your partnerships across political boundaries in defence of the Pound, have given us inspiration to work towards something similar in Denmark.

It is clear now that the double-dealing surrounding the Euro has in every way been quite exceptional:

During the first week of this year, during the launch of the Euro on the stock exchanges around the world, Danish businessmen, bank men, editors and politicians shouted with joy over the strong position of the Euro.

Now, almost one year later, when the Euro has lost almost 20 percent of its value compared with the Dollar - and still falling - they are unbelievably still shouting with joy - because of the Euro's weak position!

A year ago a leading Danish newspaper wrote: "The Euro has shown itself to be a roaringly strong super currency. It has taken its place amongst the currencies of the world in line with the dollar and the yen" - and the paper added: - "A strong, safe and solid currency strengthens the outlook for continued falling interest rates".

A couple of weeks ago, after the Euro during the course of this year has shown frightening weakness, the same paper wrote: "It is a great advantage for the Danish economy, that the Euro has lost its value against the Dollar - the possibilities for Danish export are now more favourable than ever before".

I ask you? How on earth can anyone take that kind of madness seriously? It is as though, a strange secret directive has been sworn in down there, something like:

Paragraph 1. "The Euro is good" Paragraph 2. "If the Euro turns out to be not-so-good, paragraph 1steps in....

The Danish Minister of Economy, just a couple of weeks ago, described the EMU as "a fantastic success!" I ask you? If these quite frightening depreciations really represent a "fantastic success", how on earth would the Minister have controlled her comments if the Euro had increased in value?

No - the fact of the matter is that the Euro is not a success at all. The first year has proved to be a thundering fiasco and the money weavers in Brussels and Frankfurt have feverishly been patching things up.

Another clear fact is that the rate of unemployment in the 11 Euro nations has also risen to staggering heights. On average the rate of unemployment in Euro countries is over 10%, whilst it is quite lower for us. In Denmark unemployment is under 5%, in Britain and Sweden it’s 8%. In Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, countries, which are outside the EU, unemployment is down to less than 3%.

We can also mention that the economic growth in countries outside of the Euro-community is considerably stronger than those within. The facts also show that the GDP has increased two-fold during the past six years in Denmark against that of the 11 Euro countries! The Danish Crown is strong and stable, and is only weakened these past weeks as a result of our foolishness in binding us to a Euro in "free fall". The growth of the Pound is known by you all. It is impressive – the British pound is stronger than ever...!

To put it in a nutshell then - even from a solely economic point of view, there is really absolutely nothing to even tempt a logical joining of the EMU. If our leaders in Denmark and Britain even had the slightest remains of sense they wouldn't touch this currency with a barge pole...!

If we choose to use our sense this time, instead of letting ourselves be rocked to sleep by speeches of eternal peace in Europe, we will choose to run away screaming when they come creeping with their Euro talk.

Let them keep that currency in Central Europe - even though one can feel quite sorry for the Germans, who quite foolishly have given up their very strong and respected Deutsche Mark.

It is an indisputable fact that a monetary union, a common currency with common currency policies, has never during the course of history succeeded without a political union. This is because currency policies, financial policies, income policies and structural policies must work together. The conditions for this are - and have to be – a supranational political display of force.

The Commission knows this, of course, and for them the common currency is the first step towards pushing through the natural course of the other economic areas. It is the condition for the group of countries to share a common currency, to share the same inflation and to show the same balance at the end of the day, in each of the countries’ accounts. This means sharing the same public lending and the same employment. The individual European countries quite frankly do not have this. Each country's preconditions, especially the political, are quite, quite different.

It could be, from the Commission’s point of view, that it would be very good for Greece, Italy and even France to remove the power of their economic policy, but I am not sure that the Greeks, Italians and Frenchmen think so. The German Bundesbank has been quite openly sceptical about the EMU and still is - under the surface - because the bank knows that the condition for a common currency policy is a unity between the countries economies - which cannot exist and never will exist!

It is quite a scary thought though - that it is still not quite clear what the Commission intends to do to see this unity goal through to the end. The demands that were made in the Maastricht Treaty, the so-called "Convergence Demands" are far from enough - and quite a few of the members of the EMU are a long way from complying with those demands that have already been laid down. We will most definitely see even more demands for unity for tax policies – and from this: social policies and other expense policies.

The Danish Social Democratic government will continue to deny the consequences of the EMU and the open borders, because the voters are afraid of these consequences. But our country cannot have open borders, common currency, common economic aims and still continue to maintain a tax financed social policy on a Danish level – including the whole of the Danish welfare state from free education to caring for the elderly.

The Danish welfare state will therefore stand to be fundamentally changed if we were to take a place in the EMU. Even if we are outside, the open borders could force us to re-arrange our society to suit the southern European average standards - the same social levels, the same wages, the same criminality, just as much salmonella in the eggs and just as much dioxin in pork.

In Denmark the year 2000 will be a decisive year of whether or not we choose the Euro or the Crown. Everything is pointing in the direction of us having an election either at the end of 2000 or the spring of 2001. It is very fortunate for us that we can be sure to be able to vote on the matter - our Prime Minister has already promised this. I can assure you we are also promising him a battle he will never forget..!

Seriously though, I am of the opinion that the Danish people will once again put a spanner in the works, just as they did with the Maastricht vote in 1992.

I also hope that with the "No" I expect, we will be able to stretch out a helping hand to you - in return for the hand you lent us over half a century ago.

Margaret Thatcher spoke to the British people in The Times the day after our "No" to the Maastricht Treaty with these words: .. "Three Cheers for the Danes. A people spoke. I believe if the people have their say, Maastricht will be dead. I think the Danes have saved parliamentary democracy in this country".

I do hope that Margaret Thatcher will once again be able to give a similar comment to our "No" to the Euro...

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a continued successful Congress, and assure you of the Danish People's Party's continued loyal support - and at the same time express my warmest hopes that your battle for "Keeping the Pound" will succeed.

Thank you.