Y2K-EMU - GB will head the EC starting 1/1/98
GB will head the EC starting 1/1/98. I wonder what kind of discussions will be started by the EC presidency?
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From:
che.com
Chemical process industries (CPI) site:
...
'To a large extent, interest in Y2K has been eclipsed by the European Monetary Union (EMU), which proposes converting European countries to the euro currency standard (banking in the euro is scheduled to start in 1999, and currency is slated to be in circulation by 2002). This places an entirely new load on IT managers' hands. In Ireland, computer consultant Patrick O'Beirne of Systems Modelling Ltd. (Wexford) notes "a certain sense of resignation" among IT employees faced with the double load of compliance for Y2K and EMU. Says Robin Guenier, director of London-based Taskforce 2000, "Many senior people in the IT industry tell me that the idea of introducing a single European currency at the same time as fixing the date-change problem is absurd and that the single most important contribution to getting the date change right would be to defer the euro."
The mitigating factor in terms of the euro, at least, is that the EMU's future is uncertain and may not gain widespread acceptance in the near future. In addition, points out associate director Richard Wood at Cap Gemini (London), banks and insurance companies are the industries hardest hit by EMU.
There's no question, however, whether the year 2000 will arrive on time. And when it does, those who've done their homework will be free of the millennium bug... or so we hope. ' |
