The prime minister and chancellor have denied reports that they are at loggerheads over the euro.

In an unusual joint statement issued late on Friday, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown said they were not "at odds" on membership of the single currency.

Blair said he was not determined to call a euro referendum "come what may".

And Brown added that it was "simply not the case" that he was opposed to a euro vote in this parliament whatever the circumstances.

"Once a decision is taken, the prime minister and chancellor will be on exactly the same page, in total command of all the arguments and confident of winning support for the final agreed position," the statement said.

Both men also insisted that the Cabinet would have a key role to play in the eventual decision.

The pledge came as senior ministers prepared to spend the weekend reading the Treasury's comprehensive research on possible British membership of the euro.

Members of the Cabinet have been given around 2000 pages of economic analysis to read, ahead of next Thursday's discussions on the single currency.

They will be browsing through the 18 supporting studies that are to inform the final decision on whether the five tests have been passed.

It has been announced by Number 10 that from Monday the prime minister and chancellor will hold a series of tri-lateral meetings with individual ministers to consider the issues involved.

There will then be discussions on the euro at the Cabinet meeting on May 22 and department chiefs will consider the issue further over the half term Whitsun recess at the end of the month.

An assessment of the discussions so far will be circulated among Cabinet members on May 26 which will then be followed by a second round of trilateral meetings between Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and individual ministers from June 2.

A special Cabinet session will be held on June 5 or 6 where the final decisions will be made on the euro and the government's wider European strategy, followed by an announcement in parliament on June 9.

The decision, which the chancellor has described as "momentous", is expected to rule out immediate membership of the euro.

But the prime minister's decision to give his senior ministers an influential role in the decision making process has been seen as an attempt to keep open the option of a referendum before the next general election.