According to "De Standaard - Belgium. It was an enormous mistake of the Eurozone to manoeuvre Greece into a situation in which it had to default on an IMF payment, the liberal daily De Standaard laments: "It is a shameful defeat for all involved leaders that a member of the Eurozone has been forced to default on its financial obligations. The euro is not merely a market instrument that obeys the laws of supply and demand. It is the concrete expression of the will of hundred of millions of Europeans to share a common destiny. The way in which this will has been played with in recent months has damaged the credibility of the entire European project. … It is an irreparable disgrace. Regardless of the referendum on Sunday and how the Greeks vote, Europe will have to live with this incredible mistake from now on." (01/07/2015) +++
The paper is absolutely right and U.S. President Obama urgently calls on the EU leader to use their senses. Let us just summarize the extent to which European leaders, the German ones in particular are failing in their responsibility to unify Europe on the basis of Schuman's effective solidarity.
1. No country can be expected to pay a debt exceeding 170% of GDP.
2. For the Eurozone, the Greek debt is perfectly managable.
3. Germany should be reminded of the early 1930's, how excessive debts enabled the coming to power of the Nazi party. Excessive austerity imposed from abroad breeds political extremism.
4. Greeks excessive debts are made possible by irresponsible creditors.
5. The fundamental weakness is the absence of adequate institutions to manage the common currency- one treasury and one minister of finance for the Eurozone: a weakness for which France, Germany and the other signatories to the Treaty on European Union in 1991 are responsible.
6. In the absence of a truly common monetary policy, power gravitates towards the strongest member state. It is a recipee to failure. European unification is seriously and possibly irreparably failing.