But the present debt crisis should primarily be addressed through direct measures in the member states in question and via the international assistance programmes already in place. So what are the advantages of the compact?
The main advantages of aiming for and realising a structural balance are that growth in government debt over the business cycle is curbed and that each member state has fiscal scope to stimulate its economy in a recession. The foundations must be laid when the economy is not under pressure. The fiscal scope is greater if the structural balance is positive.