ABSTRACT
The European Union became an oasis of stability, democracy, respect for human rights and prosperity. The construction of common European institutions in the second half of the twentieth century succeeded because these institutions created better development conditions for all member states. In the eurozone crisis, the lack of a national currency turned out to be very painful. According to one widely held belief, a country’s ability to weaken its currency is an instrument allowing states to improve their trade balances and thus improve their situation at the cost of their trading partners – by what is known as a “beggar thy neighbour” policy. The paradox, and simultaneously the trap, of eurozone membership is that a country in crisis with a desperate need for its own currency cannot safely give up the euro, as this would threaten the outbreak of a banking panic and economic collapse.
