The crisis in the eurozone

The way forward for the eurozone and the future of the EU were at the centre of discussions when we gathered in Berlin for the 9th Annual ECFR Council meeting. As usual it was a very good crowd that attended and people like David Miliband, Javier Solana, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Emma Bonino and Joschka Fischer made great contributions as did many other participants. There was also an interesting fireside chat with Herman van Rompuy that was moderated by Quentin Peel, Financial Times. Overall it was a rather gloomy picture that was presented at the meeting and although everyone seemed to be of the opinion that it was time for decisive action it was less clear what could be agreed upon. The fact that both Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank and Olli Rehn, EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner yesterday publically made bold statements about the unsustainable situation in the eurozone and the need for drastic action to prevent the disintegration of the single currency only accentuated the seriousnes of the situation.