You know this is the problem with the debate about the Euro on this site, that people only see it from some fundamentalist free market ideological POV, rather than as it is meant as; an instrument to increase the integration of the common citizen in the different EU countries and forcing responsable governance on the member countries.
Here's the problem: It did not work. In fact, it failed spectacularly.
Furthermore, a central authority in Brussels trying to impose conformity upon the entirety of Europe is a bit too 1984ish for my liking. The Germans were practically guilt-tripped into accepting the Euro, and guilt is all that is keeping them from exiting the Eurozone, and the British/Swedes were smart enough to see what it would lead to (i.e., what is happening today and what will happen in the near-future as Beet spelled out).
The EU itself is a good concept if you think in terms of it representing a mechanism that enables the free movement of labor, capital, goods/services throughout the region. But like anything else, a good concept can be taken too far. Hence the Euro, attempting to enforce a single monetary policy upon an entire region of different cultures with different fiscal priorities, and so many of the protectionist measures implemented along the way (specifically, price controls/restrictions on agriculture; i.e., CAP).
The EU should probably find a way to shed the Euro and much of the bureaucracy/planning elements while keeping the free movement of labor, capital, goods, and services as its sole priority. The free movement of labor, capital, goods/services is all that is necessary to maintain a united and peaceful Europe, anyway. The bureaucracy/planning is the road to serfdom if it is taken much further.
