Germany runs the risk of being burdened with 100% of the blame for the failure of the euro project, primarily because it's the strongest and most ambitious of the pack. Since it is the major (and most prominent) recipient of profit from the euro, it is easily deemed -by public opinion- responsible for all the problems that EU is facing. In part it is to blame, because it has based its recent economic success on the erosion of income for Germans. It accepted that a growing percentage of its own citizens will live under poverty and even more under the threat of becoming impoverished. This would not be a problem for the rest of Europe if it were not for a common currency that inevitably diffuses the policy of the strongest member.
Although the Maastrich Treaty advocated convergence, harmony in development and social standard guarantees for all, the common currency's reality is one of massive unemployment or working-poverty. The Economic and Monetary Union's design and implementation is evidently a failure for at least half the citizens it affects. It was conceived as a maximalistic idea that might work under ideal circumstances, but it was executed as a book-keepers compromise. The euro project was limited to a no strategy-no authority operation, enforcing the letter of the rules in order to violate the spirit of the rules. This is no more Germany's fault than it is of the rest of the founding members, but it could become Berlin's major problem.
Once started, the Euro project can not be repaired or withdrawn without serious cost. It will soon be imperative to either transform the Eurozone in an economic area that would not alienate its less privileged citizens or to accept that Europe can't continue with a "one size fits all" single currency. There are various solutions available but the problem is always the same.
Union depends on trust. Trust in Eurozone is already running thin. If totally lost by the further impoverishment of the periphery and the lower/middle classes in the core-countries, the rift will be inevitable and could mean the disorderly demise of the EMU project. By virtue of her importance relative to the European Union, Germany will then be the target for much more blame than its share in the original mistake. It is in Berlin's interest to either support a positive metamorphosis of this Union or to accept that its days are numbered and commit to an orderly break-up. Or a mixture of these and possibly other solutions as well, for the various member states. If nothing is done Germany risks being stuck with both the blame and economic losses equivalent to her huge stake in this project.
Although the Maastrich Treaty advocated convergence, harmony in development and social standard guarantees for all, the common currency's reality is one of massive unemployment or working-poverty. The Economic and Monetary Union's design and implementation is evidently a failure for at least half the citizens it affects. It was conceived as a maximalistic idea that might work under ideal circumstances, but it was executed as a book-keepers compromise. The euro project was limited to a no strategy-no authority operation, enforcing the letter of the rules in order to violate the spirit of the rules. This is no more Germany's fault than it is of the rest of the founding members, but it could become Berlin's major problem.
Once started, the Euro project can not be repaired or withdrawn without serious cost. It will soon be imperative to either transform the Eurozone in an economic area that would not alienate its less privileged citizens or to accept that Europe can't continue with a "one size fits all" single currency. There are various solutions available but the problem is always the same.
Union depends on trust. Trust in Eurozone is already running thin. If totally lost by the further impoverishment of the periphery and the lower/middle classes in the core-countries, the rift will be inevitable and could mean the disorderly demise of the EMU project. By virtue of her importance relative to the European Union, Germany will then be the target for much more blame than its share in the original mistake. It is in Berlin's interest to either support a positive metamorphosis of this Union or to accept that its days are numbered and commit to an orderly break-up. Or a mixture of these and possibly other solutions as well, for the various member states. If nothing is done Germany risks being stuck with both the blame and economic losses equivalent to her huge stake in this project.
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