The impact of this lost European perspective became clear in the autumn of 2008 when, in the aftermath of the sub-prime crisis and the failure of Lehman Brothers, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s first impulse was nationalistic and wholly anti-European. There would be no common European plan to address the crisis, and no call for public funds.
欧洲远景的失落所造成的影响在2008年秋次贷危机和雷曼倒闭的过程中展露无遗，德国总理默克尔一开始的反应极为民族主义，而且是彻底反欧洲的。德国不接受任何应对危机的欧洲共同方案，也不要求建立共同基金，只动用自有资金来保护本国的存款人。只不过随后情况急转直下，才迫使德国在随后的G20会议中回归到欧盟的框架之下。