But overall, let us recognise what has been achieved: First, the six-pack, the two-pack and the Fiscal Compact have made the governance framework more commensurate to the challenges of a monetary union. This was an important step towards sound public finances in the euro area.
Second, improved financial regulation (as exemplified by CRD IV and by the compromise reached on the BRRD) and the gradual steps towards a true banking union (with a single supervisor, a single resolution mechanism and a harmonised framework for national deposit guarantee schemes) will importantly reduce the risk that a crisis of the magnitude that we have just experienced will materialise again.