i've been saying for years that what the eu needs is what canada calls transfer payments - and they probably would have gotten them, if they would have accepted the last defeated constitutional package, however long ago that was. greece and italy are what canadians would call a "have not province", and they would therefore be eligible for "equalization payments". you simply can' otherwise expect these little  countries to share a currency with germany; it just can't make sense unless you bring a state in to balance it out.