Greece Outside In: The eurozone is starting to recover. Now the new phase of its crisis begins

Sunday, May 25, 2014

The eurozone is starting to recover. Now the new phase of its crisis begins

A toxic combination of slow growth, deflation, weak banks and political unrest in the east still haunts the continent

Brace yourself for the next phase in the eurozone crisis, due to come around any time soon. That might seem an odd thing to say. After all, Portugal has just emerged from its bailout programme; Greece has dipped its toe into the bond market; while Ireland's export-slanted economy is growing at a fair lick. Crisis over, you could say.

But hang on a minute. All is not well in Europe, as the votes for fringe and extremist parties in Sunday's European parliament elections will testify. There are five good reasons why the crisis could flare up again at any time.