FT: But that structural reform does mean a more flexible labour market, doesn’t it? JCT: Yes, certainly. FT: It does mean dismantling matters like the 35 hour working week in France, does it not? Or do you think that, actually, in the private sector, employers found all sorts of ways around the 35 hour working week…?
They would overcome a shortcoming of the initial design of the monetary union that allowed financial supervision to lag behind monetary and financial integration. Their implementation will also contribute to address the current crisis by helping to separate banks from the sovereigns and reverse the on-going fragmentation of markets along national borders.