The British Prime Minister yesterday strongly defended the deal struck over the presidency of the European Central Bank, insisting that Mr Wim Duisenberg's appointment was not just right for Europe but for Britain.
In a stormy session in the Commons, during which Mr Tony Blair was laughed at and barracked by Tory MPs, he said that despite the "very difficult negotiations" over the appointment of the Dutch candidate, he was "plainly the right person to launch the euro".
The controversy over the deal arose at the weekend when it was announced that Mr Duisenberg would not serve as president of the European Central Bank for the full eight-year term, but that he would stand down after four years.
French opposition to the deal was based on President Chirac's proposal of a French candidate, Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, who is expected to take up the presidency after four years.
Mr Blair said the row had arisen because of "a simple factual inaccuracy" in the press, indicating that Mr Duisenberg (63) had wanted to serve the full eight-year term. But that "was not and never has been the case", Mr Blair insisted. "Eighteen months ago, before any French candidate had been suggested, Mr Duisenberg properly made it clear that he would not want to serve a full eight years in view of his age."
Some member-states had preferred a fixed date for Mr Duisenberg's retirement, while others had argued that setting a date would not be consistent with the Maastricht Treaty, which guaranteed the bank's independence. Mr Blair said the "protracted" discussions in Brussels at the weekend were "essentially over how to resolve this".
Dismissing suggestions that Mr Duisenberg was under pressure to retire early, Mr Blair said the arrangement was "entirely consistent with the treaty".
Sensing the opportunity to gain political mileage from the row, however, the Tory leader, Mr William Hague, described the deal as a "fiasco" made possible by "horse trading" between EU members.
On the day that the pro-monetary union European Movement opened an information centre to provide the British public with facts and figures about the single currency, Mr Hague attacked Mr Blair for having "colluded in the launch of a fudged and flawed" euro that would threaten jobs and businesses throughout Europe.
"You've not only broken the promises which you gave this House, but also disregarded the terms of an international treaty to which this country is a signatory," Mr Hague said.
Earlier, the President of the Board of Trade, Mrs Margaret Beckett, told a meeting of British businesses in Birmingham that they would soon be asked to deal in euros and that they would lose business if they were not prepared for the changes that monetary union would bring.