The Consequences of Neoliberalism THE FRONTAL ATTACK ON SOCIAL EUROPE Vicente Navarro This article explains the consequences of the way that the establishment of the euro as the currency for the eurozone countries has negatively affected their welfare state. The article analyzes the political events that led to the creation of the euro and its impact on the welfare and well-being of these countries’ populations. One of the phrases frequently written in economic circles in the United States (and to a lesser degree in Europe) is “the euro is going to collapse.” Those who repeat that phrase over and over again do not seem to know how the euro was established, by whom, and for whose benefit. If they knew the history of the euro, they would have noticed that the major forces behind the euro have done very well and continue to do so. As long as they continue to benefit from the euro’s existence, the euro will continue to exist. Let’s start with the euro’s history and the major reason it was established. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, it looked like East and West Germany could reunite and—as the Western German establishment wanted—become, once again, a united Germany. That possibility did not please democratic Europe. Twice in the 20th century, the majority of European countries had to go to war to stop the expansionist aims of a united Germany. The European governments were not pleased to see post-Nazi Germany reunited. President François Mitterrand of France even said ironically that, “I love Germany so much that I prefer to see two Germanys rather than one.” The only alternative these governments saw was to make sure the united Germany would not become an isolated country in front of everyone else. Germany had to become integrated into Europe. It had to become Europeanized. Mitterrand thought one way of doing this was to have the German currency, the International Journal of Health Services, Volume 43, Number 1, Pages 1–5, 2013 © 2013, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/HS.43.1.a http://baywood.com 1