[NotableAlamode]

     I wonder what the EU expected.

The EU didn't think it through.

The Euro was primarily a (french) political project to weaken Germany following reunification. This is strongly reflected on the ECB's board, where Germany has the same number of votes as Malta! In order to sell the Euro to conservative Germans who feared a "Transfer Union" (where they would perpetually have to bail out certain states that shall remain anonymous with a reputation for fiscal improbity) some vague promises were added about debt levels. But the promises were not accompanied by any enforcement mechanisms and soon fell by the way-side.

I used to ridicule Eurosceptics, seeing them as dinosaurs who are on the wrong side of history. But to my consternation, I have to accept now that most of their worst fears have come to pass.

As a historical aside, it is noteworthy that about a century ago a similar scenario played out: Greece (and others) crashed the Latin Monetary Union [1], a 19th-century attempt to unify several European currencies into a single currency that could be used in all the member states, at a time when most national currencies were still made out of gold and silver. It was established in 1865 and disbanded in 1927.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Monetary_Union