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Deutsche Welle: 18 May 2012



The European Union stands ready to face the aftershocks if Greece were to leave the eurozone, the EU's Trade Commissioner maintains.
He says officials are already working on an emergency blueprint on how to survive.

The European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) are feverishly working on an emergency plan of action to be activated if
debt-stricken Greece has to leave the 17-nation euro area, EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht said in an interview for Friday's edition
of the Dutch-language De Standaard newspaper.

His comments appear to be the first time that a high-ranking EU official has confirmed the existence of contingencies being taken for a
possible Greek exit from the single currency bloc.

De Gucht, a former Belgian foreign minister, hastened to add "The endgame has started, and I do not know how it's going to play out."

The EU Trade Commissioner's message was echoed on Friday by the floor leader of Germany's co-ruling Free Democrats, Rainer Brüderle.
"It would cost a lot of money, if Greece was to leave the club, but it would be manageable," he told the Handelsblatt business daily.