The EU President Mr Romano Prodi has predicted that Britain will join the single currency.
However, Mr Prodi, who said Britain’s entry would be welcomed, made "no forecast" on when the UK might sign up.
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Mr Romano Prodi |
"I know that any interference in British policy is negative. I have to behave well. I have to run well the euro," he told BBC Radio 4.
"The UK is an essential part of Europe. Europe will profit from its entry," he added.
He compared the impact of the new currency to the psychological pull of the US dollar.
"How deep has the American identity because of the dollar? I think this thing will happen not immediately, but in the long term," he said.
"The nations will remain nations but this new reality will bring us together strongly. We are doing a new experiment and we are also changing the concept of the nation state."