Eurozone - A crisis waiting to happen?

French colleagues around at the time report that General de Gaulle was a man of few words; one of them being "Non" But he wasn't averse to soundbites: "How can you govern a country which makes 146 types of cheese?"

Imagine how much harder it is for the European Union with a domain stretching from the Baltic to the Aegean. Election results in France and Greece demonstrate there is no longer an appetite for austerity and despite scolding from Chancellor Merkel, the days of the complete Eurozone could be numbered, with some members taking an early exit.

It started well; after World War II the desire was to co-operate not fight. We had the ECSC, EFTA, then the EU: lots of initials, little actual co-operation. So how could the venerable ideal of a European Union become so unstuck?

Fuelling The Crisis?

A World War Two poster issued by the Information Ministry around the time of the Blitz is now re-doing the rounds on t-shirts, coffee mugs and even duvet covers. It reads very simply: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. Some things never go out of fashion. Compare that with the conflicting messaging coming out of the UK Government last week on possible petrol shortages even before a strike had been called.

The tanker driver issue has been bubbling on for over a year, so following classic crisis theory, Ministers should have known and been prepared. It's called 'horizon scanning'; an early warning system of problems ahead. There should also have been a unified management plan with agreed communication objectives, delivery system and of course, key messages.