By Brian Johnson - 28th August 2005
The European Commission has called on the UK to set a firm date for completing the changeover to the metric system.
Brussels officials, following pressure from an unnamed pro metric group have, over the summer, renewed calls for the UK to honour its 1979 commitment to full metrication.
Reopening the metric debate could herald the end of the UK’s imperial measurement system, abolishing the use of pints, miles and acres, which have until now been covered by a derogation allowing the UK to delay changes.
The UK officially went metric 25 years ago, but it wasn’t until 1995 that the imperial system was officially abolished.
All packaged goods in the UK are now labelled according to the metric system, and since 2001, it has been illegal to sell loose produce such as fruit and vegetables in imperial measures with the exception of draught beer.
A spokesman for EU industry commissioner Gunter Verheugen said the UK needed to fix a date “as soon as possible”.
“They are running behind on this,” he told the UK’s Observer newspaper over the weekend.
And Brussels is insisting that the UK goes the extra mile and establishes a final deadline.
Verheugen has said he wants clarity on when the UK will set a firm date for the final changeover, but wants to avoid the issue becoming a tabloid headline grabber.
“They have committed themselves to the metric system…at the end of the day they will have to tell us how they want to play it…we want to avoid this becoming another euro-scare story,” said Verheugen’s spokesman.
The commission’s renewed call is said to have caused panic in the UK, with government ministers wary of being embroiled in an issue that will inevitably be seen as ‘Brussels meddling’.
UK tabloid the Sun attacked the move which it believes could sink Britain’s traditional pints.
“These damn Eurocrats must be mad if they think they can separate a Brit from his pint,” said one drinker on hearing the news.
“If we lose our pint we lose our Britishness,” said another.
But Brussels insiders believe that although the mile and acre may disappear as they have in Ireland earlier this year - when Dublin completed its metric conversion - the UK’s pint may yet survive.
The iconic pint could be included as part of the UK’s food and drink heritage, under the same ‘geographical indicator’ laws that protect Parma Ham, Champagne and Roquefort cheese.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.