The euro just turned ten years old. During this time, the single European currency has managed to prove its worth. However, the financial crisis that has swept the world has led to the fact that a number of countries in the coming years may leave the eurozone.
The single European currency was introduced with great difficulties, but all countries that entered the eurozone understood its advantage. Ten years of the existence of a single currency have proven the correctness of the decision taken at the end of the last century. Nevertheless, amid the economic crisis of recent years, the euro area has cracked, and it is not known whether it will be able to resist.
The problems of the world economy have been accumulating for decades, so the 2008 crisis did not come as a surprise to many experts. European countries managed to overcome the first wave of the crisis, but for many countries belonging to the eurozone, its consequences were very grave. In particular, for Greece, which actually turned out to be bankrupt. If it were not for the desire of other European countries to prevent the precedent of leaving the euro zone, Greece would have long ago returned to the drachma. The multibillion-dollar loans of the European Union did not allow the country to drown, but also failed to pull it out of the swamp of the financial crisis. The Greek authorities somehow managed to pass a number of unpopular laws providing for the reduction of wages, pensions, and the release of tens of thousands of jobs. But even this does not save the country, a number of experts believe that Greece's exit from the eurozone is only a matter of time.
If the matter were limited only to Greece, the European Union, perhaps, would have made this sacrifice. But a number of European countries are in distress, so getting rid of Greece does not solve the problem. Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy also faced great economic difficulties, rating agencies now and then downgrade their status. Interest rates on debt securities issued by these countries are growing, which in itself testifies to the most difficult situation - no one wants to give them money at low interest anymore. According to Moody's calculations, Greece and Ireland will not be able to get out of a difficult situation until at least 2016, for Spain, Portugal and Italy, difficult times will last until the end of 2013.
Against this background, the proposals from Paris and Berlin to single out the six most successful countries from the eurozone in order to move forward together are especially acute. France and Germany are spending huge amounts of money on stabilizing the situation in the euro area, which cannot but cause discontent among their taxpayers. Another option could be tightening Brussels' control over the finances of the countries entering the euro area, but the eurozone countries themselves are already opposing this. As a result, a situation arose from which it is impossible to get out without certain losses. It remains to decide what or who can be sacrificed in order to maintain at least the visible stability of the zone of the single European currency.
It is worth noting that not so long ago a competition was held for the best project for the most painless variant of the collapse of the eurozone - the very appearance of such competitions suggests that the euro area is seriously ill. And it is not surprising that many eurozone countries are beginning to quietly, quietly, prepare for a possible unfavorable development of events, calculating the most optimal options for returning to national currencies.
