The EU's Big Fat Greek Mess

Herman van Rompuy is neither a "poet lost in politics," nor “charismatic,” but rather a timid church mouse - precisely the sort of leader that a lowest common denominator institution like the EU requires. This reputation has dogged Von Rompuy ever since his contested appointment as President of the European Council in 2009.

Van Rompuy's ignorance seems to not only cover his dull personality but also the magnitude of the Greek crisis. Rompuy on his recent New York visit suggested that Greece will not default because it cannot be allowed to default.

Meanwhile, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the Euro Group, has provided some empty political lines urging “better coordination between all actors”.

Juncker’s and Rompuy’s federal sentiments don’t seem to be shared by Angela Merkel’s coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), which has hit rock bottom, obtaining a mere 2% in recent national polls down from 14.6% in obtained in the 2009 federal elections. Subsequently its poster boy Philipp Rösler has embarked on a populist endeavor openly calling for the default of Greece. FDP’s Hermann Otto Solms asked whether, "it might be better if the country withdrew from the euro zone." Juncker’s response to the political populism from Germany was to urge his German colleagues to “tell the truth” to the German populous. The “truth” in this case meaning whatever Juncker wants to be the truth.

Brussels seems to believe that the EU is too federal to fail - a false confidence which obscures the very real danger of Greece defaulting and taking the entire institution with it.

Instead the mantra of ever-tighter fiscal and monitoring rules is being dished out as the answer to all problems. The majority of European media outlets overlooked the fact that the treaty of Maastricht included thorough and sound budgetary limits, which were blatantly ignored in the past. Article 2 of the Maastricht treaty limiting the deficit in general government finances to 3% of GDP in any year and the public debt-to-GDP ratio to 60%.

The EU would be well advised to push Greece back toward the model of Greek civilization advocated by movies such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, in which Greeks lived in the “long shadow of the ancient past but still managed to embrace the spontaneity of the present”. The stark reality is that Greece can default and even the warmest federal souls won’t be able to avert this horror scenario.