In other words, it’s not sufficient for each member of the union to keep its own house in order, so that its underlying economic, financial and budgetary conditions are consistent with a sustainable membership of the euro area. The others have to do the same.
In Germany, for instance, intermediate goods were no longer arriving and ﬁrms had to make temporary cutbacks in production. Product shortages and disruptions to global supply chains have prompted calls for “reshoring” or “repatriation”. But a truly global shock like the pandemic can hardly justify abandoning international production chains.