EU economies in crisis - Unity of purpose is essential

A LITTLE over a week ago, when the banks’ terrible liabilities were published, there was a small hint at finality, a suggestion flickered that reaching this understanding was part of an endgame rather than another milestone along the road to some place utterly chaotic.

If those figures did anything to encourage confidence, events of the last 24 hours have undermined whatever optimism was generated in the last week.

Almost inevitably, Portugal has joined Ireland and Greece in the Kindness of Strangers Club and undermined confidence in the euro. Portugal’s difficulties, just like our own, are another hammer-blow to the single currency project and will make it far more difficult for us — or anyone else — to get more tolerable terms for our EU/IMF bailout package.