The debate in Sweden on whether to join the European Union's currency homed in this week on an issue both sides see as crucial for the outcome of next month's referendum - will there be a federal superstate and EU taxes?
Mainstream political and business establishment representatives, who argue that Sweden can gain politically and economically from adopting the euro, say national governments and parliaments will of course retain sovereignty over taxes.
Euro opponents, in minority among the power elite but ahead in opinion polls, say the single currency bloc is evolving towards a federal structure with unaccountable bureaucrats and politicians out of reach for Swedish voters setting EU taxes.
"Joint EU taxes are in the pipeline. It is only a matter of time," Per Gahrton, a European Parliament member for Sweden's anti-euro Green Party, told a news conference.
"To hold together, a currency union must have quite strong centralised steering functions such as harmonised taxes, a budget and an economic government," he said.
"EMU is a step towards a superstate. We'll have a central bureaucracy taking over everything."
Not so, retorted Gunnar Lund, the minister for international economic affairs in the centre-left Social Democratic cabinet, whose members are divided on the euro even though the party's formal position is in favour of Sweden adopting it.
"His (Mr Gahrton's) arguments are not credible," Mr Lund told Reuters, speaking on the sidelines of a government briefing.
Mr Lund recalled how in 1994 - before Sweden's referendum on EU membership, which returned a narrow "yes" majority - Mr Gahrton and other "No" activists had warned of mass unemployment.
"He said at that time too that we will get common taxes immediately, like a letter in the mail. Has that happened? The answer is 'no'. Will it happen? The answer is 'no'," Mr Lund said. Sweden's taxes are among the highest in the world and pay for extensive social security safety nets, child, elderly and health care as well as education.
Many voters fret about deteriorating public sector services and less generous benefits but nevertheless keep returning the welfare state's Social Democrat architects to office.
The party, in power for six of the past seven decades, is facing an uphill battle to swing a sceptical population around before the September 14 referendum.
A Gallup opinion poll published on Thursday put the anti-euro "No" side 13 percentage points ahead of the "Yes" camp. EMU supporters have been behind in every poll since April.
One fifth of voters were still undecided, Gallup said. Lund told the briefing voters in doubt needed reassurance that the welfare state would gain from an euro entry: "It will be easier for us to finance our public sector, to maintain our welfare system if we join rather than the other way around."
Mr Gahrton's book said joining the euro and giving up monetary policy independence would lead to wage cuts, growing unemployment, less social welfare and higher prices.
Independent economists say it is impossible to assess the impact on Swedish economic growth and unemployment of a decision in favour or against the euro.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's argument for joining the euro is similar to that of Sweden's Social Democrats - that the country stands to gain politically and economically.
Indeed, reports on Thursday from big US retailers showed July sales were strong as summer weather aided business.
Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc., department store operator Federated Department Stores Inc. and specialty stores AnnTaylor Stores Corp. and Abercrombie & Fitch all raised their quarterly earnings forecasts.
Bolstering the idea of moderate improvement in job prospects, Labor said the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which smooth weekly gyrations, also fell below 400,000-a-week to 397,250 - lowest since the February 22 week.