ABSTRACT
When does the narrative of the European financial crisis start? Is it with the first bailout loan granted to Greece in May 2010, the introduction of the European Stimulus Plan in November 2008 or the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, announced on 15 September 2008? A subsequent question concerns the nature of the European financial crisis. In particular, has it been a financial crisis, a banking crisis, a sovereign debt crisis, a crisis of trade imbalances or a mortgage crisis? Moreover, can we consider the European crisis an extension of the global financial crisis or as an entirely different phenomenon? None of these views are wrong. The European crisis is a multi-faceted phenomenon produced by a combination of factors: the financial meltdown of 2007, the weaknesses of the banking system, governments’ budgetary politics, but also, or even foremost, the institutional weakness of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) (Dyson, 2000).
