The focus of the Eurosystem during this phase was to support market liquidity as a means of mitigating funding liquidity, ultimately contributing to preventing that solvent institutions became unable to continue operating. As part of the enhancement of euro liquidity provision, the Eurosystem continued to shift the maturity composition of its refinancing operations from the weekly maturities to longer-term maturities.
Whether these decisions represent a major step forward remains to be seen. As happened before, the initial agreements seem to have been watered down during the negotiation process. The rules regarding the debt brakes leave significant room for interpretation, and their application and enforcement will not be monitored at the European level.