EUROPE'S political crisis spread to the euro yesterday after Italy publicly discussed abandoning the single currency and reverting to the lira.
The Italian suggestion, once unthinkable to the European establishment, comes as a poll showed a majority of Germans want to pull out of the euro and revive the Deutschmark.
The threats to the future of the euro have disturbed currency markets already nervous about the growing crisis over the European Constitution.
In his remarks yesterday, Roberto Maroni, the Italian welfare minister, said it was no longer unthinkable that the country would abandon the euro and revert to the lire.
....Even in Germany, the driving force behind the euro's creation in 1999, there are signs of doubt about the project.
German authorities were forced this week to deny a report that the finance ministry and the central bank have an emergency plan for the break-up of the euro, but the German people are certainly discussing that outcome. A survey for Stern magazine this week showed 56 per cent of Germans want to return to the Deutschmark.
Bert Ruerup, the head of chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Council of Economic Advisers, admitted this week that the predicted economic gains from the euro are "dreams that have never come true".
While few government officials or economists believe the dramatic break-up of the euro is likely in the short term, there are genuine concerns that the currency could die a lingering death as it loses international credibility.
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The revolt against European integration is spreading like wildfire, and not just in the political arena. Unless something dramatic takes place soon, the whole enterprise will collapse. From Charlemagne to Hitler, the dream of a United Europe was always an unnatural thing -- a concept to be forced upon a voiceless people. Now, at least in parts of Europe, the people have a voice and are speaking loud and clear; and they are saying "NO!"
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