On the institutional side, the Eurogroup should essentially be recognised as the guardian of fiscal sustainability, gaining new tasks and powers, including the review of national budgetary plans and the definition of ex ante fiscal policy guidelines for euro area countries.
Particularly since late July, markets have become highly volatile, as seen in a plunge in stock prices, and household and business sentiment has declined due to various events such as political turmoil over the federal debt ceiling, a series of deteriorating economic indicators such as ISM manufacturing and nonmanufacturing indexes and consumer spending, and a downgrading of U.S. Treasuries by Standard and Poor’s from triple A to double A plus.