The use of expedited debt-restructuring alternatives allows debtors and creditors to negotiate the terms of an agreement in a shorter period of time than traditional reorganization procedures, minimizing the problem of holdout creditors and avoiding long and costly procedures.

This paper analyses what has been the EU institutional reaction to the Euro-area sovereign debt problems, focusing in particular on the new architecture designed to avert a financial crisis. It analyses i) the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM), an EU financial assistance feature...