A political revolt was under way across Europe last night against the controversial summit deal on the European Central Bank (ECB) which will run the new single currency, as concern for the verdict of the markets gave way to a sudden alarm about the reaction of European voters.
The campaign for tomorrow's Dutch general election campaign had been proceeding placidly towards a widely expected re-election for the Prime Minister, Mr Wim Kok's centre-left coalition. But it suddenly became electric as the opposition parties demanded an emergency debate in parliament.
In Denmark, where a referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty later this month already faced difficulty, opponents seized on the political deal on the ECB to invigorate their campaigns.
The Irish currency markets yesterday gave a muted reaction to the weekend's events in Brussels and the controversy over the presidency of the ECB. One trader said he arrived into work at 7 a.m. and most of the trading had been done by 7.15 a.m.
The pound fell very slightly against both the deutschmark and sterling. It finished trading yesterday at 2.5140, down from 2.5182 on Friday. It fell a halfpenny against sterling to finish at 84.4p.
Economists said Irish interest rates, which will have to fall by around 2 per cent before entry to EMU, are unlikely to do so for some months yet. In Brussels, open outrage by leaders of both left and right groups looks set to provoke the first serious constitutional clash between the European Parliament and the national governments when parliament holds its hearings on the ECB later this week.
Parliamentary leaders, claiming a breach of the Maastricht Treaty guarantee of the bank's independence, are threatening to refuse their consent to the appointment of the Dutch candidate, Mr Wim Duisenberg, to a temporary fouryear term as head of the new central bank.