Leaving the Euro
Although the Euro was not designed in a way to allow countries to seize using the common currency by way of reversal to an old currency or by adoption of a new one, there have been instances where this farfetched option was considered, particularly in the wake of the Greek crisis. Do you think leaving the Eurozone is advantageous?
A collective 'right of expulsion’ from the EU or EMU?
The recognition of a unilateral right of secession by the drafters of the Lisbon Treaty inevitably
prompts the following question: if Member States are to have the right to secede voluntarily,
should there not be a possibility for their fellow Member States to expel them from the EU if their
participation were to be deemed undesirable or prejudicial by their partners and if the latter were
to fail to persuade them to withdraw from the EU or EMU voluntarily? Under what conditions
and following what procedures could such a right of expulsion be exercised? The prospect of
expulsion came to the fore in June 2008, when Irish voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty, an event
that was to trigger one of the most acute crises in the recent history of the EU. This Part examines
the existence of a right of expulsion from the EU and EMU, the possible rationale for its
introduction (assuming that such a right does not already exist) and the extent to which the lack of
such a right would be an obstacle to a Member State being left behind by its partners.