The above article is about the financial crisis in Greece and what the rest of Europe is going to do as a solution, namely Germany. Many people are looking at Germany to step up and use its surplus to help Greece, but is this Germany's responsibility? It is the European Union, not the German Union, right?
This paragraph comes from the article:
"The debate is partly about economics — what steps European countries need to take to tackle their demons of high debt and slow growth. But it is also about leadership, as the European Union struggles to define its mission during the deepest economic crisis in its history."
How will this financial crisis affect the overall identity or perception of the EU? Any solution will not come overnight, therefore, this will be a long haul for EU member states as they are forced to take cut backs as a unit. This is the problem with having joint economic systems.
If you want to read further, this following article talks about how the signs indicate that the IMF may need to get involved in the crisis. According to this article, receiving aid from the IMF can sometimes be seen as embarrassing, so how will this further affect the perception of the EU as a whole if it comes to this?
I agree that this economic crisis is a big deal for an EU identity. The first thought that came to mind was the fact that Germany is so willing to help out Greece. Germany is acting as the parent in this situation because it is in a sense flaunting its power. If the EU bands together in an equal partnership to help one of its members then that could provide a strong sense of unity. However the economies of each nation are different making it impossible for them to each be giving the same amount of aid to Greece. One nation (Germany in this case) would have to provide more in order to possibly solve the crisis. However doing so puts Germany in that parental power-holding position which is not good for the strengthening of the EU.
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