Sputnik spoke with Stavros Mavroudeas, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Macedonia for more insight on the issue.
Sputnik: Is the Euro a failed project?
Stavros Mavroudeas: I think the Euro overall is a problematic project. It’s not a success story; it’s actually proving to be a story of a failure. The Euro is a part of the European integration project, and this in my opinion is an imperialist project.
Imperialism meaning; at least in Marxism, that a country or bloc of countries exploits other countries economically. The European integration was inaugurated the Second World War under the auspices of the US, with the aim of securing economically and politically Western Europe, from the Soviet threat.
By then the European integration acquired greater independence from the US and even aspired to dethrone it, as the new economic capitalist superpower of the world.
The former European Monetary Union is the necessary evolution of this course of European integration, because after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, particularly its exchange rates system; that was based on the dollar and was a system of fixed exchange rates.
Once this system collapsed; and it did so because of the US under the Nixon administration withdrew from that system and acted unilaterally, then the European integration needed a currency for its common market.
They moved towards creating ultimately, after several previous failed attempts in creating the European Monetary Union, that is the Euro.
Stavros Mavroudeas: I think that the possibility of either a collapse or a fragmentation of the European Integration and its monetary union is on the cards.
Now what would be the result of that? There are many possibilities; there would be an eruption of national rivalries and controversies, and that would be pretty bad, not only for Europe but also for the world.
Keep in mind two world wars began from Europe.
In order to become a reality; it requires that the European Union and its monetary union would be destroyed. Both the European integration and monetary union are not mechanisms that can be reformed in a progressive way.
All attempts; even the limited ones, have failed so far and I don’ think there is any realistic possibility in these being implemented.
Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Stavros Mavroudeas and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.