In fact, there is strong empirical evidence for the boost in financial integration brought by the introduction of the common currency (EC 2008, Lane 2008). Ideally, integrated financial markets encourage the movement of capital towards its best uses, promote diversification, diminish the risk of local credit crunches and smooth local cycles by financing temporary current account disequilibria between different regions within a monetary union.
Overall, ten years into the life of the euro there are strong arguments to believe that the importance of asymmetric shocks or at least their harmful side-effects have diminished and will diminish further, especially if structural policies foster the convergence in productivity and living standards between EMU member states.