At that time also European policymakers and central bankers doubted and criticized that. If you read the IMF or the G20 statements, the Japanese policy was always considered acceptable because it was directed towards understandable domestic targets. Now the same applies to the euro area, although in a different scale: We are not in deflation and we will not be in deflation.
In Germany the ECB’s policy is heavily criticized. This will increase with the planned asset purchases. One concern is that the ECB takes risks on its own balance sheet which could at the end cause some problems for taxpayers again. Isn’t it a big risk that the support in Germany for the ECB could be get lost completely?