The proposals are intended to provide the right incentives for bankers, but if the proposals do not achieve this goal, we want to know why. In the past, when we have been provided with well-documented and convincing reasons for making a change to the Basel II framework or the U.S. implementation process, we have heeded those arguments.
Most euro area countries have benefited from significantly better financing conditions than in the 1990s, a situation which has supported fiscal consolidation. 2 For instance, in the run-up to Stage Three of EMU, fiscal deficits were considerably reduced, mainly due to falling interest payments, from an average of 5.2% of GDP between 1990 and 1998 to 3.4% between 1999 and 2007.