Has the just described special sequencing of the ECB’s unconventional monetary policy measures been appropriate? To answer this question, we should recall that the euro area has its own distinct characteristics. And, as a currency union, it is in many ways incomplete.
In the language of the “Five Presidents’ Report”, “Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) today is like a house that was built over decades but only partially finished. It is now high time to reinforce its foundations and turn it into what EMU was meant to be”.