This week’s figures showing the eurozone emerging from a recession that has lasted the best part of 18 months are testament to the adamantine determination of EU policymakers to keep the single currency intact at any cost. But it would be a mistake to believe that the return to growth signifies an end to the crisis, despite the insistence of Olli Rehn, the economics commissioner, that the worst is over. It all depends on where you are. In Germany, the recovery looks to be well-founded. But in Greece, where youth unemployment is close to 50 per cent, or Spain, where it is near 30 per cent, or in Ireland, where property prices have crashed, there is little to cheer about.
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