In order to prevent the current fiscal and financial problems in the region from triggering a chain reaction, the EU created the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) in 2010. The EFSF can raise funds through the issuance of bonds, the proceeds of which can then be used to provide loans at below-market interest rates to financially troubled euro area countries.
There is a broad consensus that no explicit definition should be prescribed. It would in any case be virtually impossible to capture the diversity of procedures and their continuous development in a rigid definition. The focus should not be on generalised requirements, but on specific use cases.