Today it seems that people in Washington are more interested than ever in European affairs. Unfortunately, it is for entirely the wrong reasons. How nice it would be to go back to those days of being irrelevant! I would like to set the stage for our discussion today by addressing some of the key issues about the crisis and the European response to it.
These issues get to the heart of the major debates in the U.S. and Europe at the moment. They are complex and they require us to think long-term and avoid simplifications. Ultimately, they are about what kind of Europe we want for the future. In particular, I will focus my intervention on three questions: Is the worst of the crisis over?