What is the euro crisis?

"Eurocrisis" (also called the European debt crisis) is a financial crisis that gripped the Eurozone since the beginning of 2010, after it became apparent that Greece had provided incorrect information about its debts. This led to great unrest on the financial markets and put the future of the common currency, the euro, at stake. Besides Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus, and Spain also needed financial support to stay afloat.

The crisis forced European government leaders and ministers, under great pressure from the financial markets, to quickly establish missing components of the economic and monetary union, including the creation of the European Stability Mechanism (a permanent emergency fund), a joint economic and budgetary policy, and the development of a banking union.

The greatest panic during the euro crisis only disappeared in the summer of 2012, after Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), promised during a historic press conference: “Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough.”