The European Union is at a political crossroads to find an effective solution to today’s economical issues.

The European crisis in 2008 led to the collapse of the banking system and many southern countries were heavily affected.

Since the collapse there have been multiple attempts by political parties to find a solution, but it may be easier said than done as Othon Anastasakis Director of South East European Studies at Oxford explained to students.

“The same approach was taken for all the countries affected by the crisis when the problems were different in each,” said Anastasakis.

The Union used the German approach with the belief that a country should take care of their finances first and foremost, said Anastasakis. For example, Greece had political problems while Spain was going through banking problems.

Additionally Northern countries began to feel weary of the repeated bailouts that they continue to give to the southern countries, he said.

Students present at the lecture had the opportunity to ask Anastasaki questions about possible solutions to Europe’s current troubles. Among students was Sara Tulane Vice President of University Affairs at Sac State.’

Tulane asked if the dismembering of the European Union would be a viable solution to the Unions current Problems. Anastasakis said there was no legal way for countries to separate from the Union and could only be done through the referendum process. Recently Scotland has made an attempt to separate from the Union, but ultimately voted to remain in the union.

Katerina Lagos professor of Hellenic Studies at Sacramento State also expanded on the economical issues in Greece.

“The U.S attempted to fix the Greek Tax System by sending the Internal Revenue Service and failed to do so,” said Lagos.

Anastasakis said the United States could take away with what not to do when looking at the current European Environment. As for Europe, there were no conclusive answers or predictions on what will happen next in the Union by Anastasakis.

“The euro has been able to survive the storm but the future is uncertain” he said. “We will have to wait and see how the whole thing develops.”