BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  have smoothed the adjustments – without these measures, the adjustments would have been far more abrupt. Still, even in a currency union with an accommodative monetary policy and fiscal support mechanisms, national gaps between prices and productivity had to be closed – sooner rather than later. The reforms undertaken so far have made these adjustments possible.
Wage negotiations, for example, have been decentralised and wage indexation has been abolished or reduced – Spain is a case in point. This makes it possible for wages to take the specific situation of each firm into account.