Analysis: Greece euro exit talk grows, but would it help
Senior EU officials are speaking privately about a dangerous new phase in the two-year-old euro zone crisis. Greece - the spark for the conflagration - is close to intractable and Italy, the region's third largest economy and biggest bond market, is cause of grave concern.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte provided perhaps the clearest indication yet that Greece's 10-year euro membership might not be forever, outlining on Wednesday a plan under which a member state could leave the currency bloc if it consistently and repeatedly ignored budget deficit and other obligations.
"Countries which are not prepared to be placed under administratorship can choose to use the possibility to leave the euro zone," he and his finance and economics ministers wrote in a proposal sent to the Dutch parliament, although it did not mention Greece or any other member state by name.
In whispers, some officials are giving a stark assessment, even if they do not yet represent the mainstream of EU thinking, where many still talk about a solution being found.
"I think the euro zone is on the verge of collapse," said one senior official involved in analyzing solutions to the crisis.
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