Move Along, Nothing To See Here

The Boiling Frog's favourite EU Commissioner has decided that everything in the Euro garden is rosy, here's a selection of his latest quotes:

"While I cannot yet say ‘Mission accomplished', I am increasingly confident that we are entering into the endgame of the crisis management phase."

And:

"Preventing a European Lehman has not been a simple task, with 27 fiscal authorities and 11 central banks - we never had the genius of Alexander Hamilton to draw on, like you did, unless you count Jacques Delors for this too - but the task has nevertheless been accomplished."

And:

"The euro's critics are wrong to claim that [the crisis] will lead to its failure or break-up. The euro will not only survive but is coming out of the crisis stronger than before."

With Greece about to default, and Ireland and Portugal in the same boat plus Spain not being out of the woods yet, not to mention significant worries about Italy and Belgium (who currently hold the world record for not having a government - with implications on its credit rating), one might be tempted to beg to differ.

Although in fairness Mr Rehn wasn't wrong when he said the following:

He concluded by repeating the mantra EU leaders have chanted from the very beginning of the area's crisis that the bloc will do "whatever it takes" to save the single currency.

"The euro is not just a technical monetary arrangement, but rather the core political project of the European Union."

I suspect EU Commissioner Olli Rehn will come to regret his words, and I look forward to that day very much.