THE EUROZONE NEEDS THE UK

FOR HOW LONG?

When the euro became a reality one of the reasons why I was happy was because I imagined myself travelling around without the need of changing currency. Quite funnily I continued changing currency because the UK was one of my destinations.

Anyway, I like to read the British press and I am very aware of those people in the UK who have seen the euro with suspicion and that are very happy that the UK retains the pound.

I imagine that the situation of the UK with respect to the Eurozone crisis maybe similar to that one of a single neighbour who has some rain falling into his house and does all he can to dry the floor. At the same time he happens to have 17 people living in the next flat. It seems that they have a bigger problem and the rain has flooded a part of the flat. The single neighbour is happy not to live on the other flat that it is in disarray but it is unhappy because it is worried that the flood on the next flat may flood its flat too. I must accept that the single neighboor is all right to be happy to live alone but I think that the flat with the 17 people is very interesting because to put 17 people under a roof can make these neighbours to know each other more and learn from each other. Even if the learning means to suffer floods.

But let me say what I wanted to say about the eurozone needing the UK. I think that the UK can now play a very important part in the eurozone crisis. The fact that the UK does not belong to the eurozone does not mean that cannot help. Of all countries outside the eurozone the UK is the closer and more important one! Russia, Brazil, China, the US are important countries but none of them is closer to the eurozone. Besides, the UK and the eurozone are inside the European Union.

If the UK plays the cards well, it has a unique opportunity to become again a lighthouse for Europe.

How can then the UK help the eurozone?

One way of helping is realizing that the eurozone loves the euro as the UK loves the pound. For me it is wonderful that London retains its own currency and that Paris, Berlin and Venice share a currency. In all cases it is a sign of the will of the people! So once you accept this I think that we should help each other! I read, as I said before,  the British press quite oft and I see that we have common issues. The British press talks about cuts here and there. The same happens in the local newspapers in Catalonia. So, instead of seeing each other as people from different palnets we just could come together because we are dealing with quite similar problems: the cuts in the NHS remind me totally of the cuts in the Catalan Health System!

I would like a UK government that looks for a solution to the Greek crisis. It would be crazy that a country that has some of the best marvels of Greece at the British Museum does not care about the future of Greece.

German may lead the eurozone because of its economic muscle. Maybe the UK could lead the whole Europe because of its ideas. Oxford and cambridge are not on the continent.

Anyway, I miss the UK. Please, make you feel heart in Europe. You can bring to Europe things that only you can do. I think we all need each other in this hard times. Even Shakespeare needed Italy for its plays.

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