The other point that the Commission needs, in the very least to put on the table, is the Eurobond issue, as it did with good merit last year with a green paper on the issue. Although this was unacceptable to several member states at the beginning, discussing it takes away emotional aspects, and I’m sure that Eurobonds will come sooner rather than later.

Another aspect consists of the treatment of late payments by public administrations. This is a well-known problem but which is not accounted for in fiscal rules. But if we are interested in the supply side, does it really make sense that governments distract existing supply capacity, normally at small firms, productive firms which are caught by a crisis of liquidity because governments don’t pay?

So before the Fiscal Compact goes into effect, as I hope it will, after its ratification, it would make eminent sense to have a transparency operation, that would provide oxygen to companies and make accounting and budgetary policy more rigorous afterwards under the Fiscal Compact.

To round off rapidly on the political aspects, let me say that the problem is not only about growth, but also about whether “integration is reconcilable with democracy? The apparent answer in many countries these days is “no”, but I am convinced that it is. An important role has to be played, and can be played, more than people recognize, by the European Parliament. The European Union is the only international body that has a fully-fledged democratic legitimacy based on direct elections- and I think the biggest mistake in dealing with the political crisis of the European Union would be to believe that the root of the problem is at the EU level.

I have spent ten years in the European institutions, at the Commission, and I have spent now almost six months in a national government. Apart from the fact that the latter feel much longer, it is interesting to compare experiences. The European crisis is, first and foremost, a crisis at national level, due to increasing short termism. The tendency, and I say this with due respect, is less and less leadership and more shying away from unpopular solutions that are nevertheless necessary and bring long-term benefits. So it is not a bad idea that we have the European Union reminding us of what to do.