Let me just mention that - due to the Asian and Russian crises - some regions of the euro area will experience substantially lower growth this year than last year, and for the same reasons real growth in the euro area as a whole dropped from around 3% in 1998 to an estimated 2.1% this year.
There are, by and large, no borrowing constraints as countries are bound by what is called the acquis communautaire, in other words, all the laws and agreements, including the treaties that apply in the EU. Perhaps what is more important, they have implemented banking sector reforms that have led to an increase in banking competition.