We analyze the benefits and costs of a non-euro country opting-in to the banking union. The decision to opt-in depends on the comparison between the assessment of the banking union attractiveness and the robustness of a national safety net. The benefits of opting-in are still only potential and...

We analyze the benefits and costs of a non-euro country opting-in to the banking union. The decision to opt-in depends on the comparison between the assessment of the banking union attractiveness and the robustness of a national safety net. The benefits of opting-in are still only potential and...

The notes in this compilation assess and comment on various aspects of the collateral policy and framework of the Eurosystem. In particular, the notes consider the economic implications associated with the current ECB collateral policy for asset allocation and relative asset price developments...

This compilation of notes requested by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) for the Monetary Dialogue in July 2012 deals with crisis response of central banks. The ECB has adopted a number of non-standard measures during the crisis to foster a smooth functioning of the monetary...

This compilation of notes requested by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) for the Monetary Dialogue in July 2012 deals with crisis response of central banks. The ECB has adopted a number of non-standard measures during the crisis to foster a smooth functioning of the monetary...

On 6 September 2012 the Governing Council of the ECB decided on the technical details of new sovereign bond purchasing operations, called the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMTs). The notes in this compilation evaluate the framework of the OMTs and discuss various aspects of the interventions...

Small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) of southern euro-area economies (e.g. Italy, Spain) pay significantly higher borrowing rates than their peers of the core (e.g. Germany, France) and this divergence is widening. It is argued that severe market failures prevent SMEs in southern euro area...

This paper provides a first preliminary assessment of the recent two 3-year long-term refinancing operations (3Y LTROs) conducted by the ECB by putting them into a broader context. The perspective taken is that prevailing in the first half of the year 2012, directly after the path-breaking ECB...

The Van Rompuy Report and also additional proposals made by the European Commission outlined steps for a ‘genuine Economic and Monetary Union’. This article explains, assesses and comments on the proposals made. Moreover, it outlines what could be recommendations in order to achieve a...