The ghost of the drachma frightens Brussels. Greece could leave the euro: Maria Damanaki, a Greek member of the EU college and fisheries commissioner, wrote on her website yesterday. And it was immediately a race to throw water on the fire. The spokesperson for the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, began by reiterating that Athens outside the single currency "is not a hypothesis we are envisaging".
This was echoed by Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, spokesman for the commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, stating that "the scenario of a Greek exit from the euro has never been on the table of finance ministers". Even Athens has received a sharp denial: the future of Greece is "only within the framework of the euro", said the spokesman for the Greek government, Georges Petalotis, underlining that the exit from the single currency "is out of the question". Indeed, the possibility of a country from the euro area abandoning ship is not even contemplated by the EU Treaties and there are no procedures for expelling a member state.
But what exactly had Damanaki written? Here are her words: “The scenario of a departure of Greece from the euro is now on the table. (…) I'm forced to speak clearly: either we agree with our lenders for a program of hard sacrifices that leads to results, assuming our responsibilities for the past, or we go back to the drachma”.
The European Commission underlined that "Commissioner Damanaki, speaking in a personal capacity, dramatized the situation, but what she says, in reality, is no different from what the EU Executive is repeating: Greece needs to take very tough measures ”.
