How neighbours may view this system of government: A water bearer 
Greece
The current Pasok government in Athens inherited the disgracefully fiddled government financial books from the discredited outgoing conservative administration. Greece had faked its accounts. So there would be a penalty. Austerity/non-indulgence
Indeed in Budapest last week, at a meeting of European finance ministers, Greece was given a warning: don't back off reforms. We are reaching a point when the Greek people may not take further austerity. The past year has been marked by strikes. Everyone - or so it often seems - from truckers to journalists has at some stage or other walked out. They don't want the medicine enforced from Brussels or the IMF. There is a low-level of disobedience against paying toll charges. The government, casting around for revenue, may be about to slap a tax on fizzy drinks.
So why not go for a restructuring? Why shouldn't those banks in Germany and France take a hit? The fear is that those banks - particularly in Germany - remain fragile. A Greek default could usher in a wider banking crisis.
The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, is in Greece today. His mood appears surprisingly chipper. "The threat of the (eurozone) crisis spreading has been reduced significantly, or disappeared" Like other European officials, he shuts the door to the idea of restructuring. He believes the reforms should be given time until they start to bring results
Why the EU had to bail out Greece
Globalisation in all its manifestations presents EU governments and institutions with an awkward choice. Just as a cyclist has to continue to move forward or risk falling off, the EU will have to move further and faster to share sovereignty, simply to be able to manage the new economic, financial, environmental and security challenges, or risk growing irrelevance.
Meanwhile, where will the next currency explosion occur? If so who will then show solidarity in coming to their aid? Being outside the euro might yet prove a very cold and vulnerable spot to be in.
Source: The Guardian, BBC
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