Reading Paper #16: “Eurozone Crisis as Historical Legacy”

Allison Brown 4215: European Union Dr. Anderson April 20, 2021 Reading Paper #16: “Eurozone Crisis as Historical Legacy” Author: Mary Elise Sarotte -- is currently a professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. In the past, Sarrotte has served as a research associate at Harvard University's Center for European Studies and has a PhD in History from Yale University. She’s considered an expert in Cold-War Europe and European history in general. Published: This text was published in the magazine, Foreign Affairs. The magazine is peer-reviewed and academic and is known as a formative publication on issues of European and EU affairs. The journal is published by the Council on Foreign Relations, also a very profound and factually based Washington DC international relations think tank. Date: September 29, 2010 -- For the European Union, Spain assumed the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Sweden. The year saw a handful of natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Ongoing at the time was the Eurozone crisis which started near the end of 2009, it’s clear how this ongoing economic crisis works into Sarotte’s writing and main arguments. Thesis: The 2010 Eurozone crisis was not exclusively a negative event, it also resulted in a better understanding of how the Maastricht Treaty needed a bailout procedure for member states of the European Union, in order to move forward, members should not be expelled from the EU but now “governance reform” (Sarotte 4) is necessary. Gist: As the European Union continues to work together for the betterment of all member states natural political conflicts and troubles will exist on the furthering integration that is necessary for a closer union to benefit Europe economically and through joint policies. Sarotte writes to conclude, “... a fundamental problem within the whole European Union: there exists a built-in tension between the lofty goals of integration and member states' collective unpreparedness to think through the consequences of their ambitious project … The great achievement of the past has been to reconcile these contradictory impulses by focusing on practical agreements. It is time to do so once again and realize that the necessary consequence of monetary union is greater political union. European integration has already transformed most of a famously bellicose continent into a stable zone of peace. Europeans should learn from the woes of 2010 and use them to produce momentum and legitimacy for deeper integration.” (Sarotte 4) Telling Examples: 1) National Attachment to currency, Sarotte names different national attachments to currencies and central banks as an initial obstacle before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. An example of this were, “West Germans, in particular, felt an extremely strong attachment to their postwar currency, the deutsche mark; for them, it was synonymous with the economic renewal, prosperity, and stability of the Cold War years, following on the trauma of the Weimar and Nazi eras.” (Sarrotte 1) 2) Opportunity for Reform, Sarotte views the Eurozone crisis as an opportunity for Merkel and other European leaders to address the shortcomings of the Maastricht Treaty to “ reform … the eurozone crisis should not signal the end of the euro but rather the start of a long-overdue overhaul.” (Sarotte 4) 3) Weakness of Eurozone Economic Governance, according toSarotte, “... member states had not wanted to impose overly strict penalties on treaty violators in case they themselves fell into difficulties ... Germany in particular was in a sensitive spot. The expense of renovating East Germany and the unrealistic one-toone exchange rate between eastern and western marks inflated its money supply, destroyed already weak eastern industries, and increased the final bill for unification.” (Sarrotte 3) Different member states of the EU had their own economic concerns and priorities that influenced their decisions and implementations of different economic norms. Criticism: I found this to be an interesting read, examining how the Maastricht Treaty and past EU reforms in a way led to the Eurozone crisis that can be called “inevitable” don’t account for some challenges the EU faces and will continue to face with modern economic issues, COVID-19 vaccinations, and increases in refugee populations.