The eurozone was like a herd of buffalos with wolves preying on the weakest of the lot a curious public heard today at a forum organised by the European Parliament's office in Malta.
It was Labour MEP Edward Scicluna who drew up this analogy, saying that if the herd remained together it would be strong.
Prof. Scicluna said the EU's economic fundamentals, including debt to GDP ratio were in much better shape than the US's and yet speculators sensed the weakness of some European countries.
"Just like wolves, they prey on the weakest, dividing the herd and weakening it as a whole," he said.
It was a perfect analogy to describe the sovereign debt contagion that has spread from Greece to other eurozone countries and is now threatening Italy.
An agreement by Germany and France to accept joint eurozone guarantees for sovereign debt that would ease the pressure on the weak economies would solve the crisis the day after, Prof. Scicluna said.
Germany wants a guarantee that greater fiscal union and debt-sharing will not mean sloppy behaviour by some countries, he added.
"Merkel wants to avoid the moral hazard through a change in the EU treaty that would bind all countries but the rest of the world will not wait for this to happen," Prof. Scicluna said.
The forum, which asked where the EU was heading, was also addressed by Labour MEP Louis Grech, Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil, the vice president of the European Economic and Social Forum Anna Maria Darmanin and academics Ranier Fsadni and Henry Frendo.
Describing the EU as "a works in progress" Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil said the time had come for Europe to bring this political project to conclusion.
"The European project for political union is not complete and the top floor has yet to be constructed," he said.
Dr Busuttil said there was urgency to act quick but insisted the final aim had to be a change in treaties.
Labour MEP Louis Grech concurred, adding that Europe's fragmentation created a problem for moving forward.
He insisted the EU had to make sure that the single market would work for all citizens, something that was not yet the case.
"Many times the correct transposition of directives rested with the member states and they were to blame for shortcomings that negatively affected citizens," Mr Grech said.