Moreover, the establishment of the low inflation environment in the euro area and the credibility of the ECB’s monetary policy have reduced inflation risk premia, and interest rates have remained lower and more stable across the maturity spectrum than would otherwise have been the case.
If, however, we take the deep, liquid and unified US market as a benchmark, we clearly still have some way to go: the integration of equity markets is at a very early stage, common legal and regulatory frameworks are only gradually being elaborated, and the consolidation of the banking sector is far from complete.