2009年希腊主权债务危机的爆发标志着欧元区陷入了债务困境，之后，爱尔兰、葡萄牙、西班牙和意大利财政也暴露出了不同程度的问题，欧债危机出现了从“外围国家”向“核心国家”蔓延的趋势。这次欧债危机的原因主要是外围因素、内在因素和欧元区机制共同作用的结果，具体原因则各有不同。欧债危机对欧元区以及全球经济造成负面影响：需求下降、银行风险上升、对投资者和消费者信心造成打击，可能会成为拖累2012年全球经济发展的主要不确定性因素。
The outbreak of Grance's debt crisis in 2009 marked that the euro zone had been tragged into a debt predicament. Later, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy also had fisical troubles. European debt crisis tends to spread from the "periphery countries" to the "core countries". The main reasons for European debt crisis are external environment, internal factors and the euro-zone mechanism, but each country has its different and specific reason. The negative impacts of the European debt crisis on euro zone and the global economy include the following: decline in demand, increase in banks 'risk, and decline in investors and consumers' confidence. The debt crisis in Europe may become the main uncertainty of 2012 global economic development.
