'Lick of paint' to solve EURO crisis

 

THIS week has been a momentous week in the history of politics and media. Not only was it the first time ever that media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son, James, graced their presence in parliament to be quizzed by a group of ever so humble MPs, but this was also the week that the EURO currency was on the brink of collapse.Two great powers of establishment in the first stages of meltdown. it sounds dramatic, but it also raises a key point about power. When something becomes too big, it ends up destroying itself through its greed, and hunger for more. Hunger for more and more, like the cunsumerist society we live in, is like a cancer that is infecting Europe at the centre. The Greek issue is, that very first stage of the cancer.

EU leaders came to Brussels yesterday to try to iron out a deal to prevent Greece from creating a "domino" effect in the EU, and ensuring the EURO did not indeed collapse like a House of Cards.

While the EU's leaders have indeed fleshed out up to a £100bn deal to help Greece, the question that I've always asked in relation to the EU and indeed the single currency, is:

Is it possible for a group of nation states to be able to have one currency and live in harmony with that currency?

With Ireland in hot water, as part of the United Kingdom, that does indeed mean that the EURO is just as much a British problem, as it is a EURO problem. The problem is with the European Union, it has got too big for its boots. Post 1945, the EU was supposed to be a collaboration of countries to fight the terrible state of potential EU dictatorships, and to prevent so called Hitlers from ever having the kind of power to be able to take over Europe.

Since then, the EU has become, in its own shadow, a universal dictator, that just cannot cope with too many fingers in the European economic pie. Is it really possible for a group of countries, each with their own tax policies, budgets, different debt burdens, and other economic foibles to really come together and join as one?

In my opinion, the bailout of Greece is rather like doing a touch up job on a jaded, and flimsy wall that needs serious restructuring. You cannot ignore the fact that with Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, atill facing their share of economic problems inside the EUROZONE that the EURO has been, and maybe in future a disaster waiting to happen. For now, EU leaders have, as I say put a lick of paint on the problem, but how long will that paint rub off again?

A Think Tank analyst Raoul Ruparel of Open Europe, said: “A second Greek bail-out is almost certain to result in outright losses for taxpayers further down the road because, even with the help of additional money, Greece remains likely to default within the next few years. Another bailout will also increase the cost of a Greek default, transferring a far bigger chunk of the burden from private investors to taxpayers.”

“EU leaders are playing with fire by putting yet another bailout package on the table. Far from uniting Europe, a second Greek bailout will simply spur on the growing divisions between the EU’s north and south. Taxpayers in richer countries resent underwriting foreign governments’ debt, while citizens in the eurozone’s south are growing increasingly hostile to EU-mandated austerity measures. How this tension will play out in future is anyone’s guess.”

One thing that we do owe a debt to is Gordon Brown, ex-PM, and ex-Chancellor. He had the resolve to not take Britain into the EURO single European Currency - unless the five economic tests were met. They still clearly haven't been met. In my opinion, it is only a matter of time before the EURO fails, and the EUROPEAN PROJECT has to be rethought, restructured.

While David Cameron, who it is said wants to renegotiate Britain's role in the EU, he obviously will have to run that past the Liberals under Nick Clegg, the real question to ask, is it time that Britain stood up to the EU once and for all, and redefined our role in this costly project that has clearly over the last few years, become too big for its boots. Forget the small fry of the Liberals, David Cameron, this is your moment to step up and show the leadership that everyone is craving from British leaders.

On a similar point, the similarities with the Labour Party's legacy of throwing money at the problems of Britain, can transgress to the EU. The more money you throw at a problem, without actually having a proper plan is always going to be a disaster waiting to happen. Like bailing out a family, bailing out a country, or indeed an institution, there is only many times you can bail them out. After a while, you have to say, "enough is enough?"

The clock is ticking.