Spectre rises of Greece being kicked out of euro
Brussels: 'No one can leave the euro'
The FINANCIAL -- (BRUSSELS) - According to EU Business, the prospect of throwing Greece out of the eurozone moved centre-stage Thursday, after the Dutch called for the "ultimate sanction" and Germany warned a second bailout deal may need re-negotiation.
Under a proposed new regime that would place economies in deep trouble under the wardenship of eurozone partners, Netherlands finance minister Jan Kees de Jager threatened expulsion as an "ultimate sanction".
"If a country doesn't want to fulfil its obligations, well, there's no other option than that it leaves (the eurozone," de Jager told a press conference in The Hague, stressing that this would only be "the last resort".
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble meanwhile also pushed for a tougher approach, telling his parliament he will fight for "the necessary treaty changes so that we can act sooner and more effectively when things go wrong."
And ratcheting up the pressure on Athens, Schaeuble said it was "very premature" to talk about a second bailout package for Greece before it had implemented the reforms required to receive its first full disbursement.
"At the end of the day, it is up to Greece itself to decide whether it is ready to take the necessary measures to reduce its deficit and its too-high debt," added Schaeuble.
Brussels: 'No one can leave the euro'
The European Commission on Thursday (8 September) insisted that no member of the eurozone can leave the single currency after Germany and the Netherlands suggested publicly for the first time that such an extreme move should indeed be considered.
However, an European Central Bank legal study from 2009 argues that while voluntary withdrawal is legally not possible, expulsion remains "conceivable".
http://euobserver.com/9/113563
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