Reuters
November 3, 2011
It may well be remembered as the day the euro zone began to break apart.
At a late night news conference in Cannes on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy shattered the bloc's most sacred taboo, conceding openly for the first time that Greece might end up having to leave the tight-knit currency club it joined a decade ago.
The admission, after an intense two-hour meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on the eve of a G20 summit, sets the euro zone on a perilous course that could reverberate in Europe and beyond for decades.
Were Greece to leave the euro zone, a step that until now European officials have said is technically and legally impossible, the consequences would be devastating even though the country represents just 2.5 percent of the 17-nation currency area's gross domestic product (GDP).
Just how devastating is difficult to say because the move would take Europe and the global financial system into uncharted territory.
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