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EU: Europe in danger
  • Polish Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski said that the bloc which now counts 27 member states could be destroyed by the debt crisis dragging down the currency area.
    Europe is in danger," Rostowski told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, even warning that "war" could return to the continent in the future if the bloc crumbled.

    "If the eurozone breaks up, the European Union will not be able to survive, with all the consequences that one can imagine."

    Rostowski warned that the "current crisis, if it continues in such an unpredictable way, will have major repercussions," with unemployment possibly doubling in some countries if it drags on for one or two more years.

    He said that the consequences of stepping out of eurozone would be grave for both poor and indebted country and the well-off one.

    Quoting Swiss UBS bank he said that for poor member states it would mean GDP decreasing by 40-50 percent in the first year of secession and 10-20 percent in the following years. Rich countries would suffer 20-25 percent GDP slump in the first year and another10 percent in the coming years.

    ”We cannot allow that to happen,” Rostowski warned.

    European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso agreed with the Polish minister.

    "We are confronted with the most serious challenge of a generation. This is a fight for the jobs and prosperity of families in all our member states," Barroso told the European MPs.

    "This is a fight for the economic and political future of Europe. This is a fight for what Europe represents in the world. This is a fight for European integration itself," he said.

    Barroso said the solution was to have "more Europe, not less Europe," but said there were increasing signs that France and Germany were "re-nationalising" eurozone decision-making.

    Barroso said some of the options to be presented could be implemented within the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, but others would require amendments, which would prolong any plans to introduce eurobonds.

    "But we must be honest: this will not bring an immediate solution for all the problems we face and it will come as an element of a comprehensive approach to further economic and political integration," Barroso said.

    AFP/PAP
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  • 4 Replies sorted by
  • Sounds pretty optimistic, isn't it?
  • @Vitaliy
    Yes, very optimistic ;-).
    Many people believe that Rostowski exaggerating, but I understand it because people like Hitler or Musolini was once not to come to power in a happy, wealthy society.
    P.S. When I heard him I got the impression that I experience Deja Vu. A few months ago you wrote the same in this forum.
  • Think about Europe as of alchogolic in his 60s.
    He lives in old, colonial house.
    And all his income originate form selling stuff he still has inside.
    Currect crisys happened because he don't have so much stuff left, and his debt is much more than all his house.
    Ouch, mostly forgot, he also has a gun and few bullets left.
    So he is now big fan of shooting neighbors and selling his resources.

    P.S. And, unfortunately, usual liberal recipes - rob the bank, kill all dogs and cats and go making children, don't work :-)
  • And of course this is not his fault, just the conditions in which he was brought up that he had no father and the other pseudo-psychological nonsense ... :-)
    Through it all, soon turns out that a major player in European politics will be China. Mao has burst out laughing in hell :-) (Of course, not alone, along with Uncle Soso)