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Rettungsschirm

Hanna Grimm / hwMay 28, 2013

How big is your parachute?

https://p.dw.com/p/18fFr
A one-euro coin beneath an EU umbrella
Image: Fotolia/Atelier W.

Parachutes, or Rettungsschirme, have been hitting the headlines a lot in Germany recently. Greece got a parachute, along with Spain and Ireland too. Rettungsschirm, literally "rescue umbrella," is the German word for parachute. When the euro crisis hit in 2008 and as more and more European countries ran into financial dire straights, the term was adopted to refer to the euro bailout funds saving those countries from bankruptcy. With the crisis still looming, the question is just how big this "rescue umbrella" really is. Or will someone eventually be left standing out in the rain?