The third phase of the crisis, in which the EU still finds itself, began with the “discovery” of the critical state of the public finances in Greece in early 2010 and the rapid contagion of most of the European sovereign debt market.
Despite the vigorous measures taken by the ECB, the Eurogroup countries and the EU, there were recurrent tensions throughout the year, fuelled by financial speculation and rumours of default by this or that sovereign debtor, the demise of the euro, or the break up of the EU. Again, the impact of the crisis was not uniform.