As Jean Monnet wrote in his memoirs, “Nobody can say today what the institutional framework of Europe will be tomorrow because the future changes, which will be fostered by today’s changes, are unpredictable.” If we look at the history of European integration we can see that the times of crisis were also the moments of adjustment and reform which led to higher levels of integration.
Crises are opportunities to reflect on the rules and institutions in force, and it falls to policymakers to take and manage these opportunities in a concerted manner. 1  According to Eurostat data, the lowest values in August were in Austria and Germany (4.9% and 5.2% respectively) and the highest were in Greece and Spain (27.9% (June) and 26.2%).