Advanced economies have all lately witnessed a “sequence” of crises which had a considerable impact on the state of the financial system and the global economy at large. For the euro area, the last few years have been especially turbulent. The sovereign debt situation in some euro area Member States is at the heart of concerns about financial and economic stability in the euro area.
The sovereign debt crisis pointed to an imperfect implementation of economic – but clearly not monetary – governance in the euro area. As a currency, the euro has been a success. At the same time, it has become clear that continued success hinges crucially on overall sound economic and financial policies in the euro area Member States.[...]