All in all, the risks to euro area financial system stability have materially increased over the past eight months. Looking ahead, the ongoing adjustment of global financial markets is likely to last for some time, its interaction with the real economy could prove more wideranging and the shock-absorption capacity of the euro area financial system could be further tested.
In fact, it can rightly be called the most significant innovation in monetary history since the creation of the Bretton Woods system in 1944. This project is also unparalleled because clear preconditions needed to be met before EMU could be launched. The countries participating in monetary union needed to pass a stability test beforehand. Only then could their currencies merge to form the euro.