The “Grexit” taboo has been broken

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http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1491631-grexit-taboo-has-been-broken

Of course, Neelie Kroes was called to order on 7 February by her colleagues in the European Commission. Brussels’ official line has been and continues to be that Greece will have to be kept on board at all costs – and specifically with a further loan for 130 billion euros – because if one stone falls, the entire edifice of the euro will collapse. And at that point, the price to be paid will be far greater than the one for emergency aid to the Greeks.

The fact that the Commissioner for Digital Agenda chose to ignore this financial domino theory in an interview given to De Volkskrant was not an involuntary slip or a blunder. On the contrary, her remarks are the latest manifestation of a drive that began last autumn to dismantle a number of European taboos, so that hearts and minds will be prepared to abandon the Greeks to their fate if that proves to be necessary.

The first of these euro taboos – the denigration of Greek politicians – was put to the test last September by EU diplomats. The pent-up exasperation of spending cuts that Athens promised and then forgot more quickly than it could apply them finally drew scathing criticism.

“We can’t keep bailing”

“We have had enough of Greek bullshit and procrastination,” said one. Another described the management of the crisis as “an out-an-out scandal”; a third went as far as to speculate about the possibility of Greek default: “We can’t keep bailing. There comes a time when the captain has to say: ‘Everyone into the lifeboats, we have to jump ship.’”