Leaving the Euro: An Emergency Exit for the Currency Union?

The euro does not provide its members with any option to leave. This protects the common currency against speculative attacks on the one hand. The euro crisis demonstrated on the other hand how difficult it is for Eurozone countries to constructively solve economic and fiscal policy conflicts among themselves.

This briefing, written by Jörg Haas, affiliate research fellow at the Jacques Delors Institute – Berlin, looks at why the euro was designed as a one-way-street, examines the potential consequences if an exit option was introduced and provides alternative scenarios to a full-blown exit.