And while Germany has responded to the demographic challenges with a phased increase of the retirement age to 67, a recent increase in the retirement age from 60 to 62 in France is to be reversed again in some cases.
The core element of such a fiscal union which is limited to the absolute essentials consists in strict and effective budgetary rules that set a binding ceiling on national borrowing. Given experience of the past few years, this would not be monitored by the European Commission or the Ecofin Council, but ideally by a new, independent euro-area institution.