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The Rise and Fall of Euro Preparations: Strategic Networking and the Depoliticisation of Labour's National Changeover Plan

Although much has been written about Labour's policy towards the European single currency, few studies have explored the Treasury-led process of preparing Britain for changeover. The article attempts to address this by employing a strategic-relational framework to map the contours of the euro preparations network, to identify the key stakeholders and to chart its development between 1998 and 2008. It argues that by establishing an autonomous policy network, the government was able to pursue a highly effective strategy of depoliticisation by separating the logistical preparations for changeover from the political decision over whether to join the euro. The article also demonstrates the value of strategic networking as a flexible mechanism for managing political uncertainty and retaining institutional memory by placing the euro preparations process into hibernation after 2005.