Introduction: economic policies in the Euro Area after the Crisis

In 2019, 20 years after the launch of the single currency, the euro area policy framework remains highly debated among politicians, academics, and citizens. The need to improve this framework had been highlighted by the widening of imbalances prior to the 2007 financial crisis, and afterwards by the huge impact of the financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis in Southern European countries, and the Great Recession. The issues under debate may be divided into four main axes