In 2010 the EU underwent a most critical moment in its history. During a period of several months，the Greek sovereign debt crisis developed and spread to some European nations. This led to a crisis of confidence in European financial markets and a crisis for the euro. After several months of negotiations，despite German reluctance and domestic opposition，EU leaders finally agreed to a bailout plan and initiated a wave of austerity measures among all EU members. Currently，the crisis seems to have reached an end economically；however，it still has a far-reaching impact on European politics and culture as well as on the EU integration process.