A Continued United European Union 653

            The European Union has been in a time of economic crisis for a number of years. Already, there have been numerous attempts to help countries out of debt and to try to solve the economic problem at hand. Greece has already been given enormous bailout plans, of which have not solved the issue. Currently, there is talk of a possible break up of the European Union, at least economically. However, a break up of the Eurozone would be detrimental to all countries involved, so instead there should be more effective policies and reforms for competition for the countries in the Eurozone, instead of ineffective bailout plans and other policies.

            One of the first steps to solve the European Debt Crisis would be to lessen the debt of each sovereign nation. Greece, one of the countries affected the most by the crisis, has already seen some attempts to reduce its debt. Greece received a 110 billion euro bailout in 2010 and another 130 billion euro one in 2012. Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Cyprus have also received large packages (Associated Press). Now, Greece may be looking for yet another bailout package. This goes to show that bailout packages are not an effective way to curb debt in this situation, and the European Union needs to look to something else to lower debt.

            With a lot of distress and tensions arising from the problem of the debt crisis, there is a lot of talk about a break up of the European Union. As Thomas Brockhoff puts it, “Disintegration is a lazy response to a nuanced current problem. It puts both peace and power at risk” (Brockhoff). The European Union was created to keep peace through a monetary union, so what would happen to that peace if it broke up? The European Debt Crisis is not a problem that can be solved simply by taking the easy way out and breaking up the union and changing currencies.

There have been some suggestions for a breakup that do sound reasonable, even though not desirable. One such suggestion is to divide into two currency zones, the North and South. The north would contain countries such as Germany, who had emerged rather successfully from the crisis, whiles the south would contain countries that had suffered from the crisis. The benefit of this situation would be the currency devaluation. Supposedly this would create healthy competition that would enable those countries to be able to export more, since their currency would be valued less. (Eavis). However, this solution still calls for a breakup of the existing European Union, which, although it could possibly solve some of the economic problems, would still end the political union that has kept the peace since the Second World War. This situation would be also be slightly detrimental to countries such as Germany, who would get the short straw because of increased competition with southern countries.

            So how then, can the European Union stick together and solve its problems? The answer is not an easy one, as the problem has not been solved yet. Most economists agree that the solution lies in economic growth of the countries. (Protopapadakis) There needs to be more economic competition between the countries to renew that growth in countries with massive debt. A healthy solution to the crisis would be some reform or policy that enables this competition without the breakup of the north and south, and one that would not harm countries such as Germany too much.

            There is no easy solution for the European Debt Crisis. Several bailout packages have already been given to countries in need, and still there is a severe problem. Although there have been some suggestions for a divided European Union, in the end it would not be desirable. Instead, countries should establish policies and reforms that enable healthy competition to lead to economic growth in the countries devastated by debt.

Associated Press. Eurozone’s 5 bailout packages at a glance. Financial Post. 25 March 2013. Web. 18 Nov 2013. <http://business.financialpost.com/2013/03/25/cyprus-bailout-eurozone-rescue/>

Brockhoff, Thomas. It must adapt, not disintegrate. NY times. 28 Jan 2013. Web. 18 Nov 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/28/should-the-eu-stick-together/the-european-union-must-adapt-not-disintegrate>

Eavis, Peter. 3 Unorthodox ways to solve Europe’s Debt Crisis. Deal Book. 12 Dec 2012. Web. 18 Nov 2013. <http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/3-unorthodox-ways-to-solve-europes-debt-crisis/>

Protopapadakis, Aris. The European Debt Crisis, an alternate solution. Huffington Post Economics. 18 July 2012. Web. 18 Nov 2013. < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aris-protopapadakis/the-european-debt-crisis-_b_1683646.html>