Many in Europe were shaking their heads about the imprudence that had led to the emergence of the US subprime bubble. While the impact of the US financial crisis started to subside from 2009 onwards, this was precisely the point at which the euro crisis took hold. The belief that the crisis could be avoided in Europe proved premature.
The negative economic impact of the euro crisis is certainly one of the key reasons why Europe is facing serious headwinds to its most ambitious project: European integration. Populism has reached worrying levels and is accompanied by growing scepticism towards many forms of transnational cooperation. I should point out, by the way, that this is not solely a European phenomenon.