Conditions Preceding the Crisis
Weakening of structural economic supports. For reasons that vary according to
interpretation, the convergence criteria and the SGP did not successfully prevent future financial
and economic crises. The convergence criteria, simply put, were applied more strictly to some
countries than others. This allowed Greece to enter the eurozone when “in reality, it had not met
the... convergence criteria of 3 per cent of GDP ceiling on the government deficit” (Featherstone,
2011, 199). The Greek public debt level has also been consistently high: “it has fluctuated
around the equivalent of 100 per cent of GDP since 1993” even though Greece did not join the
eurozone until 2001 (Featherstone, 2011, 198). Because the convergence criteria were applied