Many a swansong on the euro and the eurozone has been sung during the last months. Some economists and politicians prophesy an end of the euro(zone) and plead for the reintroduction of national currencies (or, at least for a split of the Eurozone allowing the weaker countries to devaluate their currencies which, in turn, could boost their exports). But, also, many European citizens (especially of economically stronger countries) want to get rid of the euro and of the discipline of the eurozone they blame for hard-hitting cutbacks. They want „their own money back“ and they resent making sacrifices for their weaker and „wasteful“ European brothers and sisters. For some the end of the eurozone and even the European Union is nearby. In the meantime, Estonia has happily entered the eurozone and European leaders and ministers of finance quarrel passionately and work hard to find a solution. Often in the past, Europe was at its best and most creative under the most difficult and threatening circumstances. Will the euro(zone) survive? Are the measures taken so far the right ones and what else needs to be done?
Liesbeth Noordegraaf-Eelens and Jos de Mul
The Sovereign Debt Crisis or Sophie’s Choice On European Tragedies, Guilt and Responsibility
The year 2011 will probably be known for its quick succession of Euro summits. They all had a similar, tragic outline. Every summit started with good intentions: this would be the summit bringing the solution for the crisis. More...
Nikos Chrysoloras
The Triumphal Failure of Greece - A Report from the Eurozone’s Ground Zero
The Greek crisis is essentially a déjà vu of the subprime loans catastrophe, which hit the US in 2008, leaving the global economy in disarray. The obvious difference is that, in this case, the insolvent borrower is a state. More...
Michalis Tremopoulos
The Greek Crisis: a Tragedy in the Making
Greece, as the eurozone’s weakest link, was the first to experience the consequences of this lending suffocation and was very rapidly led into a deep economic and social crisis. More...
Gerhard Schick
Why the Green New Deal is a response to the European debt crisis
The global economic crisis has not been overcome; its character has merely changed. For us parliamentarians, its most tangible characteristic is the smoldering debt crisis in some Euro countries. More...
Philippe Lamberts
Europe's Missed Opportunity
Since the American sub-prime crisis swept through Europe, illuminating the unsustainable nature of economic models such as Ireland (the Celtic tiger) or Spain and making it impossible to disguise the damaged state of the Greek economy, the discussions on economic governance that dragged on during the negotiations of the Lisbon constitutional treaty have now resumed with a vengeance. More...
Daniela Schwarzer
The Next Reform Agenda For The Eurozone
Since spring 2010, the European Union has progressed with reforms of its economic governance mechanisms at an impressive speed. A first major achievement was the establishment of new European Financial Supervisory structures. More...
Hendrik Vos and Ferdi De Ville
Why The Euro Will Not Disappear In 2011 (and why all those speculations divert the attention from issues that really matter)
In Estonia, cash machines started providing euros on the first of January this year but this event went unreported as it is now fashionable to predict the failure of the euro. More...