This is borne out by the fact that, faced with the financial crisis, the governments within the European Union provided banks with assistance equivalent to 30% of the EU GDP.1 However, the economic implications of the crisis go far beyond the fiscal burdens.
They affect the real economy and therefore, for instance, every entrepreneur who relies on a bank loan to finance his investment decision. Thus, the process of adjustment within the euro-area banking sector is not over yet, particularly as the sovereign debt crisis has presented new challenges.