[pcrh]

The article is principally about the Euro as a currency, not the EU as a political entity.

The EU currently covers more than 12 separate currency zones, to which there are a further 21 European currencies. So, a total of approx 34 currencies (depending on how some are counted).

The undeniable success of the EU is based on its ability to have never-ending negotiations between it's constituent parts. With regards to countries such as Greece, I feel that the long-term outcome of the recent financial crises will be sounder fiscal policies within those countries, since they have found to their undoubted regret that poor fiscal policies leads to a lot of pain, even if you have a "rich uncle" such as Germany. It will also hopefully deter the economically weaker countries from joining the Euro before they are ready.

[gutnor]

> they have found to their undoubted regret that poor fiscal policies leads to a lot of pain, even if you have a "rich uncle" such as Germany

Talk about blaming the victim ...

The shitty fiscal policies in Greece or similar problem in Spain, Italy has caused major distress in the population, especially the youth who have had no time to know about and much less profit for their various countries peculiarities. The handling of the crisis has been financial with no concern for the population.

To go back to your family analogy. It is like you convincing your neighbor to rob a bank. When all goes south, your rich uncle bail you out and refund the bank, letting you keep what you stole. Your neighbor is not so lucky, he is jailed, and so are his wife and kids just make the lesson more painful.

I'm a true European, married to an European of another country, living in a third one with friends all around. Teaching fiscal policies to corrupt politicians by destroying the future of people they only indirectly care about is not my idea of an "Union of the People".

[james1071]

The problem was not fiscal, it was capital flows and deflationary policies by Germany.

[pessimizer]

>The shitty fiscal policies in Greece or similar problem in Spain, Italy

And those were? Greece is the hardest working country in Europe, and Italy was running surpluses before the financial crash.

[gutnor]

Just replying to the parent in his own terminology.

That's another thing I didn't like in the handling of the crisis. Making everybody in a country look like criminals to justify their harsh treatment of the country as a whole. So Greeks were lazy taxes dodgers, Spaniards had plenty of hidden money, all Cypriot money was from the Russian crime lords, ...