Really?

From Open Europe press summary for today:

"A leader in Die Zeit argues that European Council President Herman Van Rompuy “is exaggerating” when he says that the end of the euro would mean the end of Europe: “The European idea is more than a mere nine year old currency union […] The European Union would exist even without the euro."

I stand to be corrected but in the Treaty on European Union (TEU), which was signed by all 'Heads of State' and which David Cameron has confirmed is now a legal document, it states, in the preamble:

"Resolved to achieve the strengthening and the convergence of their economies and to establish an economic and monetary union including, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty and of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a single and stable currency."

 Article 4 of the TEU states:

"The Union shall establish an economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro."

Were the euro to collapse resulting in the EU being unable to fulfill one of its core articles, surely they would then be in breach of their own treaty and therefore, legally, unable to exist?

When, in law, one party breaches a legal agreement, claims for compensation become valid. So, come the event, when would we get back all our contributions since the signing of the Lisbon Treaty? Or would the EU have to file for voluntary liquidation on the basis that every member state would also be liable for a refund of contributions.

A simplistic view of possible events, admittedly but then we can all dream - can we not?

On a more serious matter, the European Union may well continue, however it could not in its present form. That would definitely mean a new treaty and the subsequent events unfolding from that would be really interesting..........