EUROPEAN monetary union is likely to go ahead as planned in 1999, Bernard Connolly, a senior Brussels official who was sacked for denouncing the process, told MPs yesterday.

Mr Connolly claimed Emu would be introduced by France and Germany to bring in full EU political union through the ``back door''. Giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee, he said he believed the political will of Germany and France would carry monetary union through in 1999.