These blocks, in two words – we can continue discussing this later – mean that much more of what is national sovereignty is going to be exercised at supranational level, that common fiscal rules will bind government actions on the fiscal side. Then in the banking union or financial markets union, we will have one supervisor for the whole euro area.
By early 2009, offers to households for new credit cards had dropped to around one-fifth of their count in 2006. Card solicitations have turned up over the course of 2010, but they remain well below their pre-crisis levels.