British ministers prepare for crucial week ahead of euro announcement.

(From Agence France Presse)

Senior government ministers have this weekend been poring over a document of almost 300 pages containing Chancellor Gordon Brown's conclusions on the hottest debate in British politics -- whether the country should join the euro.

Most ministers were in their home constituencies, where the finance ministry sent them a stack of top-secret documents.

The files were enclosed in a red box, the traditional receptacle for ministerial files, protected by two padlocks.

Six years after Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour government swept to power, ministers finally had in their hands the evaluation of the five economic tests set by Brown in 1997 to determine whether it is in Britain's interests to join the single European currency.

If evaluation of the tests is positive, the government has pledged to hold a referendum before the next parliamentary elections, due in 2006 at the latest.

The assessment was delivered by special messenger to Blair's Cabinet of 23 senior ministers, the only people permitted to read Brown's conclusions before June 9, when the decision will be officially announced in the House of Commons, the lower chamber of parliament.