Thomas Cromwell or the executioner’s axe? Options for a Grexit

A Greek departure from the eurozone would be undesirable. It would maximise economic and geopolitical risks to both the EU and the currency union. But if an agreement had not been found by the end of the emergency European Council meeting on Sunday July 12th 2015, the EU would have found itself in the unprecedented situation of having to manage a ‘Grexit’ (a Greek exit from the euro). In that case, whether Greece had decided to leave voluntarily or the creditors had chosen to force the country out, EU lawyers would have needed to work out a solution to a seemingly unsolvable issue: nothing in the EU treaties allows for a country to leave the eurozone.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: The Greek debt crisis: Key sources http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-greek-debt-crisis-key-sources/

ESO: Background information: The law of Grexit http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-law-of-grexit-what-does-eu-law-say-about-leaving-economic-and-monetary-union/

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