IN the midst of the plethora of meeting of European ministers and officials in the run-up to the target date for economic union, it is easy to lose sight of the weighty issues under discussion. After a meeting of officials from European mints in Rome last week, a statement was released alerting all to the fact that the introduction of the euro would create a mountain of 46 billion coins weighing 300,000 tonnes if all member states joined up.

Followers of eurotrivia will also be quick to note that the actual cost of introducing the new coinage will be £1.64 billion whereas the metal in the mountain of old currency will only yield £656 million. It's enough to give you metal fatigue.