More than ten years ago, 11 European Nations made the decision to adopt a single currency and a common monetary policy, taking what the countries hoped would be one final step towards fulfilling their ultimate comingled desire of becoming a global economic and political leader. While Germany, France, Italy and Spain are amongst the largest countries in the E.U, separately their economies are too small for them to individually become global powers. However, with the formation of the Euro Zone, these once relatively small and even tiny countries overnight magical transformed into a one of the world’s super powers.

Until recently this economic union accomplished all that the individual countries hoped it would. Within the Euro Zone, the single currency facilitated economic transactions across borders, helped to optimize investments as well as brought price transparency, greatly facilitating business within 16-nation bloc; while globally the Euro brought the Euro Zone its long sought economic power. For Germany in particular the creation of the Euro and single economic and political zone proved to be beneficial.

However, now with the Greece financial crisis pulling on on the value of Euro (in the forex market), and with Germany looking to foot a significant chunk of the EU’s-IMF combined €45billion bailout plan, many Germans are beginning to question whether Germany made the right choice in joining the EU. If faced with the choice again, would Germany join the EU?

The EU’s latest rescue plan for the debt-stricken nation of Greece consists of a €45billion bailout, €30billion of which would be received from the Euro Zone countries. If activated, the €30 billion emergency lending plan for Greece would divide shares among euro-zone countries, excluding Greece of course, according to their share of capital contributions to the European Central Bank. These contributions are based on population and GDP. As the largest country with the EU, both demographically and economically, Germany would be forced to pay 27.92% of this amount – equal to €8.4billion and equivalent to more than €100 for every person in Germany.

Already in Germany, many economists are threatening to go before the constitutional court and contest the bailout plan, on the basis that the aid package breaches the EU’ Maastricht Treaty. And the Germans have every right to be upset.

Over the next five years, Athens has to raise €240 billion, roughly the country’s GDP. Of that €150 billion is to pay down the principal owed on maturity bonds – the rest is interest. That is why the EU’s impressive “€30 billion” worth of aid is mere tiny droplet is Greece’s sea of debt and cash requirements. And with Greece rapidly losing its credit ratings, the Greek government is unlikely to be able to raise this much cash from private investors, no matter what interest rate they offer them. So even if Greece takes the EU’s generous bailout, within a few months Greece will be right back in the situation it is new – A triple B-minus debt rated country with an unacceptably high and rising debt ration. Greece will be unable to finance itself then as it was a few days ago! If Greece wants any chance at this not happening, it will have to restructure its entire debt configuration. So if Greece will be right back on same sinking boat in the matter of a few months, the question on most German’s minds is why do we need to fork over €8.4billion in order to keep this already sinking country afloat?

However if push comes to shove can Germany really risk not giving financial aid to its floundering neighbor? Whether Greece takes the EU’s €45 billion bailout package now, or whether it can hold out a wait a few more months before accepting doesn’t really matter. The tiny Mediterranean country has dug itself into such a financial disaster that it will eventually need to take aid from its fellow EU members. And when that time comes, unfortunately for the Germans, Germany will need to fork over its share of the package.

If hypothetically Greece were too default, then Europe would be left with a situation similar that of the United States when Lehman Brothers collapsed. In the fall of 2009, America stood and watched as one of its largest banks collapsed. No one could have ever imaged that the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers would have had such an enormous impact on the America’s, and even the world’s economy – but it did. It was the largest bankruptcy ever in the U.S, but the real news is what came after. First came financial panic and uncertainty that threatened to shatter the global capitalist order followed by an unprecedented expensive effort by governments on both sides of the Atlantic to patch things up. If this is what happened when a bank collapsed, image what would occur if country collapses, which could very well be the case if Greece is shut out of the sovereign debt markets? What will the consequences be for the entire EU’s banking system and economy? Already the Euro has depreciated nearly 15% against the U.S dollar, and if the “Greek situation” isn’t fixed, the single European currency will most like keep sliding down. While there be no written provisions pertaining to a bailout of any one member of the Euro Zone, letting Greece just default may have disastrous consequences for the other 15 nations. According to estimates for the Bank of International Settlements, Greece its neighboring countries a total of $303 billion, including $75.5 billion to French banks, $64 billion to Swiss banks, $43.2 billion to German banks.

Since its creation, the European Union has rapidly become one of the world’s global powers; with the Euro the most traded currency – second only to the U.S Dollar. Over the course of the past ten years, Germany has immensely benefited from all the EU’s political and economic strength – however, now it must pay a heavy price: a €8.4 billion bill to foot, along with the possibility that Greece will still default, and that other EU countries (namely Portugal, Spain and Ireland) could quickly be heading in the same direction as Greece. So the question remains, if Germany had to do it all over again, would it have adopted the Euro and tied itself to the same economic fate as its 15 other EU counterparts?