Germany was stagnating in 2000 and MISSED their promised objectives, while Southern Countries were growing healthily. Then they found themselves with extremely low rates to help growth in Germany and France, which was basically "free money" and an out-of-cycle policy they simply did not know how to deal with. Their internal corruption did the rest.
There is one way to enforce responsibility: stop giving away free money, either be it through low rates, or through "rescue packages" done to ensure your banks won't need to swallow a massive hole from not having their lent money back.
A bit too late for this, but hey, better late than never.
- raise the rates. NEVER drop the rates below 5% as long as there is a single overheating economy in the monetary Union.
- drop the debt. Suck it up. No more rescue plans, also buh-bye to the money irresponsibly lent away. Maybe you didn't know this but you have already dropped a lot of it. Now it's when the big monster Merkel has been avoiding will rear its ugly head: the same will have to happen with other MUCH bigger countries than Greece. This will cost Germany and all the other countries massively, you will be in RECESSION for some years.
Otherwise they will be out of the Euro and then you can bet your lucky pants they will declare bankruptcy and they won't repay the debt or any rescue we (EU members including the UK that's not even in the eurozone) have given them, as Argentina did not that long ago when they let their currency float. Simply because they are unable at this point to go into a position from which they can repay.
Except if you mean to say that those in the South are less humans and do not deserve even half the wages and social welfare that Germans do --which Germany has historically said in a few occasions...
e.g. see here
http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/7536
Unit labor costs in Germany increased 5% (essentially was flat) from 2000 to 2011, Greece costs increased 40%, Spain 30%, Italy 30%.
The graph very clearly explains why Germany has substantial economic growth.
(Google "unit labor costs europe" for other sources)
You are very misguided. The EU is one thing and the eurozone is a different thing. The UK does have some economic independence and very importantly, monetary independence. Those countries in the eurozone have surrendered their monetary policy to the ECB, and the ECB responds mostly to the interests of Germany, followed by France, followed by Italy, Spain and then smaller countries.
The economic cycle of Germany is substantially out of phase with that of most countries from Southern Europe, who in turn thought the Germans would pay for the party. In any case it wasn't their call. Turns up things have snowballed out of control.