There was concern about and even opposition, in Germany as well, to a more systematic role being given to the euro area composition of the European Council and possibly other formations of the Council. It was feared that this would interfere with, or be a counterweight to, the ECB, and would undermine its independence.
These developments pointed at that time to a recovery starting from the second half of 2016 and continuing through 2017 and 2018. This outlook is still possible in principle despite the deterioration in confidence and the weakening of short-term indicators in recent months, which is associated with the delay in closing the second review.