Inadequacies of the Lisbon Treaty being further highlighted by Eurozone crisis

These are interesting times. As Ireland prepares to vote on the Fiscal Treaty and the new French President insists the treaty must be renegotiated, Greek voters sent a message to politicians by moving away from those parties that advocate austerity.

Against this background, the European Central Bank and Eurozone ministers appear to be 'talking up' Greece's exit from the single currency. It is interesting that it was an Irish banker, Patrick Honohan, who highlighted this weekend that although the Lisbon Treaty does not address the scenario at all, it is still technically possible for a country to abandon the Euro.

So now, as if the economic crisis was not bad enough, the inadequacies of Lisbon are being factored into the equation.

Greek Riots 13/02/2012

Another month, another Greek bailout package

Across the news media today are images of riots in Greece following its Governments decision to implement further cuts upon the Greek people.

The riots pictured in todays Metro newspaper

The EU are obviously very keen for Greece to force these austerity measures through, as  it will prevent Greek leaving the Euro for the time being – with the feeling being that if Greece fall out of the Eurozone, it would simply be the beginning of a domino effect that brings down other countries.

The riots simply reflect the Greek peoples anguish. Suicide rate has increased since the start of the country’s economic crisis (credit Guardian). According to Daniel Knowles of The Telegraph," Youth unemployment is close to 50 per cent. People, as well as money, are emigrating in large numbers. Schools have no paper, hospitals are running low on medicine and homelessness – once unseen on the streets of Athens – is now apparently rife.

Indeed, Greece should never have been allowed to join the Euro. The idea that a country such as Germany could share a currency with a country like Greece, which has an entirely different infrastructure, is simply preposterous. Indeed, it is easy for Sarcozy to admit this fact himself (BBC News  online, 28^th October 2011) but this is now pointless. With simple a little foresight, this whole mess could have been prevented.

The real crisis now is on the streets in Greece, not in the hallways of Brussels. By taking a gamble by allowing Greece to join the Euro in the first place, we are now facing years of personal hardship of its citizens. Is the Euro worth losing lives over?

I have said for many years that the European Union is a political project which is doomed to fail. The situation with Greece has been rumbling on for a number of months, and I have spoken on BBC Radio Wales about their financial troubles.

"They built a house without any proper foundations. It is a political project, not a financial project"

Here is a news piece from the BBC back in 2001 shortly after it was announced that Greece would be abandoning the Drachma in favour of the single currency. Note the section, "
But the president of the European Central Bank, Wim Duisenberg, warned that Greece still had a lot of work to do to improve its economy and bring inflation under control."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1095783.stm

Three words: Doomed.to.fail.

Further reading:
Athens Protests: Lawmakers endorse austerity measures
Riots as Greece attempts to keep Euro
Brussels welcomes austerity vote