Agriculture ministers vote to end green pound

16 December 1998

Agriculture ministers vote to end green pound

EUROPEAN agriculture ministers have paved the way for the abolition of the “green pound” used to protect farmers against exchange rate fluctuations.

The abolition is expected to be completed after a three-year transitional phase.

It will lead to savings for the common agricultural policy of up to Ecu1.5bn (£1.1bn) a year.

Subsidies and prices for farmers in the four non-participants in the Euro – the UK, Sweden, Greece and Denmark – will be converted into national currencies using normal market exchange rates, rather than the complicated formulae required by green rates.

Brussels approved a £210m aid package for British farmers to offset losses caused by the launch of the single currency.