Furthermore, it analyses the implications for consumption risk sharing in the euro area. The main findings are that the single currency and the harmonisation policies of EU have both fostered financial integration and that cross-border banking integration increases consumption risk sharing. 4.2  EMU and cross-border banking integration  An important contribution made by Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan et al.
is that they try to disentangle the impact of the single currency and harmonisation policies on financial integration. This distinction is of major relevance with respect to the further process of integration. The authors’ focus on banking integration is appropriate with regard to the subsequent analysis of consumption risk sharing, where bank lending is deemed to be a prominent transmission channel.