BRUSSELS — The British and the Irish can still down a pint of beer, walk a mile, covet an ounce of gold and eat a pound of bananas after the European Union ruled Tuesday that the countries could retain measurements dating to the Middle Ages.

Under a previous EU plan, Britain and Ireland would have been forced to phase out imperial measurements by 2009. But after a vociferous anti-metric campaign by British EU-skeptics and the London tabloid press, EU officials decided that an ounce of common sense, which equals 28.34 grams of common sense, suggested that granting a reprieve was better than braving a public backlash.

The EU also feared that forcing Britain to abolish the imperial system would have damaged EU trade with the United States, one of those countries, including Liberia and Myanmar, that have not adopted the metric system.

Britain and Ireland officially use the metric system, but imperial measures are still often used alongside their metric equivalents. Under the EU decision, they can retain miles on road signs and pubs may continue to serve pints of beer. Other goods must be sold in metric quantities, but retailers can also display imperial equivalents.