In order to solve the crisis in the euro area, EU leaders should sleep more: sleepless nights at EU summits are partly to blame for difficult negotiations and “half measures” for which Europe was accused, according to a Bloomberg analysis. Of the last six summits of heads of state or government of EU, three ended after 4:00 am. The one from June 29 ended at 5:00 am. Monthly meetings of Finance Ministers of the euro area often extend beyond midnight. The next meeting of Finance Ministers, on 20 July, will start earlier than usual, around noon, maybe to avoid prolonging discussions into the night.
Lack of sleep contributed to unfortunate decisions that led to disasters like the Chernobyl incident, the tanker Exxon Valdez shipwreck or disintegration of the shuttle Challenger. Prolonged activity without sleep can have effects similar to those of drunkenness: people can be influenced more and more prone to take risks, according to recent studies cited by Bloomberg.
In February, during negotiations for the second program of assistance of Greece, one of the meetings of eurozone finance ministers took thirteen hours and a half and was followed by a press conference. The meeting ended at 6:00 am. “In the last two years and tonight, I learned that “marathon” is really a Greek word,” said then Commissioner Olli Rehn.
Some politicians, like former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy took advantage of the lack of sleep. In October last year, European leaders have called on bankers to midnight negotiations. Gathered in the EU President Herman Van Rompuy office, bankers were faced with an ultimatum – to remove half of Greece’s debt or to prepare for total loss if the country would go bankrupt. Two hours later, the banking industry lobbyists have conceded.
After the summit in June 29, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso refused to answer questions from journalists: “I will not go into details now. I slept less than three hours.”
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