He wrote that, without a common fiscal regime and without a stable financial system, the monetary union had a very high centre of gravity that made for vulnerability and instability. The crisis has again thrown the challenges confronting the Maastricht Approach into sharp relief. I am convinced of the importance of maintaining the euro as a stable currency.
To stay with Harold James’ allegory, we must lower the centre of gravity of the monetary union so that it cannot be blown off-course so easily in future.