In the meantime, all the countries concerned have a primary fiscal surplus, which means that they are reducing their debt bit by bit. And all these countries now have a current account surplus; they are exporting more than they import. That is quite a turnaround. These achievements are now hanging in the balance because one country may no longer want to do its part.
Even if their attempt to form a government has failed for now, Italy’s dominant parties are Eurosceptics who want to make massive tax cuts and spend lots of money, despite that fact that, at 132% of gross domestic product, Italy has one of the highest levels of sovereign debt in the world. It is certainly a challenge, first and foremost for Italy itself.