This extremely slow pace of economic recovery was due to the fact that the Japanese economy had to overcome various structural adjustment pressures - that is, pressures to reduce the burdens created by the bursting of the economic “bubble” and pressures to adapt to a new global economic environment. Since 1996, however, the recovery in real economic activity has finally become evident.
This would amount to what is known as a fiscal union. However, such a step would depend on the countries of the euro area transferring national sovereignty to the European level. Giving up sovereignty in this way would be a radical change and require wide-ranging changes to national and European legislation.