Mr Kearns suggested a new financial crisis taking a direct hit at the European Union‘s common currency, the euro, could result in the destruction of the bloc. The European affairs expert warned Brussels a lack of reform of the mechanism regulating the eurozone could worsen the risk factors threatening the EU. While unable to pinpoint a precise date for the end of the European Union, he suggested the “weak and vulnerable” position the bloc is currently in has transformed it in a “sitting duck.”
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Mr Kearns said: “The EU is in a weak and vulnerable state. If there were, for example, a new financial crisis which lots of people are speculating might be on the horizon I think that would be enough to destroy the single currency.
“Does that happen in the next six months? Does it happen three years from now? Five years from now? I don’t know but my analysis would be, if the European Union is in its current state, and its arrangements for managing the eurozone are in their current state and the financial crisis happens, the single currency wouldn’t survive it.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of “large challenges” ahead “to prevent a second Great Depression” in a report released in October.
The international body spoke of fear that a global panic could be triggered by unregulated parts of the financial system, as global debt levels remain above those at the time of the last major crisis in 2008
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
READ MORE: EURO FINANCIAL CRISIS: Italy’s banks may spark ‘DOOM LOOP’ for EU, warns Bank of England
The EU expert also cited increased discontent among member states as a potential risk factor – pointing at the ongoing clash in which the European Commission has been embroiled with the Italian Government since October.
Rome has been locked in a bitter dispute with the Commission over its spending plans, which have already been rejected over claims they are in serious breach of EU fiscal rules
Mr Kearns continued: “My view is that the vulnerability is such that it just leaves the European Union kind of as a sitting duck.
“It’s just there, exposed, hoping that things stay calm, hoping that it doesn’t have to face any major external crisis or an internal crisis triggered, for example, by the dispute with the Italian Government and the Commission.
“From my point of view, I don’t know when the final moments come but one can say it’s in a very vulnerable position, vulnerable to negative events and we’re living in a time when there’s a lot of volatility and it’s all too easy and too plausible to imagine events which would be the trigger for the European Union to collapse.”
A Goldman Sachs report this week claimed Italy would “flirt with recession at the start of next year” if the dispute with the Commission remained “unresolved”.
The paper, entitled ‘Landing the Plane’, goes on to accuse Rome of “casting a dark cloud” over Europe and labelled Italy as one of the key risk factors looming over the European market for 2019.
The report said: “The European economy faces a range of risks in 2019 that could make the outcome worse than we expect.
“Italy’s budget crisis remains unresolved and we expect the Italian economy to flirt with recession early next year.
“Although the budget tensions might have to get worse before they get better, we see the economic spillovers from Italy as manageable, unless financial contagion rises sharply.”
Italy’s economy contracted in the third quarter for the first time in four years, data showed on Friday.