The fact that the socalled “sovereign” debt crisis (which incidentally had also been caused by private debt accumulation) occurred in Europe and not in other regions with even higher debt levels is certainly related to the incomplete institutional setting of EMU. While the monetary part of EMU was fully implemented in 1999, the economic counterpart is still an unfinished business.
But how can we ensure the smooth functioning of EMU? The recently published Five Presidents’ Report “Completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union” tries to address this question. The five presidents in question are those of the European Commission, the European Council, the Eurogroup, the European Central Bank and the European Parliament.