European politics and the Euro crisis: Ten failures

28/11/2011

 

By Kirsty Hughes, Associate Fellow of Friends of Europe and Senior Associate Fellow, Centre for
International Studies, University of Oxford, UK.

The euro crisis is deepening and accelerating week by week. It is a political and economic crisis not only of the eurozone but of the European Union as a whole and with potentially far-reaching consequences. There is intense debate over the different likely outcomes to the crisis: whether the eurozone will survive intact with 17 members (although very likely with many member states mired in recession), or whether the eurozone may split or collapse entirely. All of these scenarios have major implications for the European Union as a whole – politically as well as economically.

If the eurozone collapses this could threaten the future of the EU altogether. If the zone splits or is mired in low growth, there will also be substantial economic and political impacts – across European and internationally. Yet the focus of most of the discussion, and action, is on the fire-fighting to hold the eurozone together rather than on the wider political and democratic failures that have emerged starkly across the EU as a whole. 

Download the full document here: EN

Commentary
Without shared vision and mutual trust, we remain trapped in short-term crisis management
	A comment on Kirsty Hughes’ policy paper:  “European Politics and the Euro Crisis: Ten-Failures” by Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgian Minister of State and Trustee of Friends of Europe. Even if one doesn’t agree with all the ingredients of Kirsty Hughes’ gloomy assessment of the EU’s predicament, there’s no disagreeing with the fundamental point she so forcefully makes: “Above all, there is a need for a clear, positive political strategy and vision for the EU, to show that the EU is more than just a single currency, that it has a current and future political, social and economic purpose and dynamic.” In other words, we badly lack a shared long-term vision.
Download the full document here: EN