So arcane has the Emu debate been so far, so weighted down with dogma, that the European public has not been brought face-to- face with the reality of losing familiar notes and coins. Recent disputes have lulled the public into believing that monetary union may never happen. After three years Euro notes and coins will start to circulate. For six months national currencies will circulate in parallel with Euro-money, but will then cease to be legal tender.But the trouble is that the more Europe’s ministers set out detailed plans for monetary union the more likely they are to fuel public doubt. In January next year the European Commission will launch an advertising campaign to teach the public of Europe how the single currency will work. By the end of 1997 all member states who are eligible to join, and wish to do so, must have their economies under tight control. The decisions on which countries have met the economic tests – including reducing public debt and budget deficits – will be based on 1997 economic results, and will be made as early in 1998 as possible.On 1 January 1999, monetary union will begin with the locking of exchange rates, and the launch of a single monetary policy.

In December this year, heads of government will make the final ruling on the currency’s name, and settle practical plans for the changeover, the Valencia meeting decided. In an interview in Der Spiegel, to be published today, Mr Kohl appears to raise new doubts by saying a delay of two years would “not be the end of the world”.So was the determination of ministers to go ahead as planned an act of brave political leadership? Or did the Spanish sun just blind them to the wave of serious doubts which still threatened to push their ship off course?Details of the timetable, and economic criteria, were clearly reaffirmed. According to German sources, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Theo Waigel, his finance minister, met last week to discuss the possibility of a delay, but rejected the idea on the grounds that it would involve re-writing the Maastricht treaty. “There will be time” to convince the people and “there will be time” to quell the fears, chimed ministers, as the noise of public protest lapped away across the sea.The real significance of the meeting, however, remains unclear. It was as if the turmoil in the financial market had never happened and as if the doubts of the Germans had suddenly been dispelled. The Franco-German alliance was fracturing, amid fears that even France might not make the economic grade for Emu, and opinion polls across Europe have shown growing public doubt.The Valencia meeting left no question about the seriousness of European governments’ intention to proceed. The ministers were under pressure to consider a delay, following signs that Germany might be wavering at the prospect of replacing the strong mark with an untested single currency.

Let nobody be in any doubt, the ministers declared, the good ship Emu is well on course to reach safe harbour by 1999, and national currencies will be replaced by a single European currency which will probably be called the Euro.
The meeting was another turning point for European monetary union. She now faces the charges alone following the suicide of her husband Frederick in prison last New Year’s Day.During the trial Mrs West will be held in Winchester Prison, half a mile from the court. There she will live in a special unit made from seven cells in the prison’s segregation wing, which includes her own washing machine and dryer, and a visiting room where she can meet her family and lawyers.Getting Mrs West from the prison to the court and back each day during the trial is the responsibility of Insp Paul Stallard of Hampshire Police. He estimates the journey will take two minutes each way.The road will be closed to other traffic during these two brief periods and 15 extra police officers will be on duty to control over-enthusiastic photographers and television crews, and curious members of the public.