€ Day : a commemorative publication to mark the introduction of the euro on January 1, 2008

Abstract

The island's road to the euro has been long and occasionally winding. The Nationalist government that came into power in 1987 deeply believed that the European Union would afford the opportunities that the islands would need in the future. The country had already launched into new sectors that could replace its role as a colony and base for the British services. Factories had sprouted up everywhere and tourism had an obvious future. But exporters needed easy access for their products- as well as to import machinery and raw materials; consumers were starved for choice. An association agreement with the European Community, as it was then called, was already in force but was clearly not enough.