LAWSON SAYS U.K. ELECTION NOT ONLY EMS BAR

  British Chancellor of the
  Exchequer Nigel Lawson said the next U.K. Election was not the
  only element standing in the way of full British membership of
  the European Monetary System (EMS).
      But he added that arguments against joining had weakened.
      Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, widely believed to be the
  strongest government opponent of full EMS membership, has made
  clear she does not expect to consider joining until after the
  next UK election, due by mid-1988 at the latest.
      But Lawson, in answer to a question, told reporters after
  an informal European Community finance ministers' meeting here
  that other factors apart from the upcoming election stood in
  the way of full membership.
      In addition to the question of the exchange rates at which
  Britain should enter the EMS's core exchange rate mechanism,
  there was also the impact of sterling membership on the system
  to be considered, he said.
      British entry would change the EMS from a monopolar system
  based on the West German mark to a bipolar mark-sterling
  system, he noted. "We have to make sure it would work."
      But Lawson added that some of the considerations that had
  made it difficult for Britain to join in the past now posed
  less of a problem.
      As an example he cited sterling's role as a petrocurrency,
  which he said was diminishing. "That argument has clearly
  weakened," he said.
      Lawson restated that the government was keeping the
  question of membership under review.
  

