Christine Van Den Buckel

Repairing Finance and Restoring Growth in Europe

Howard Schneidermann, Christine Van Den Buckel, Christian Hangenmeier, Keith Savard, Michael Tenenbaum

A comprehensive assessment identifies structural stagnation in France and Italy, banking-sector bottlenecks for SMEs, and a funding gap in Germany as critical threats to the European economy amid rising euro-skepticism and a protracted Ukraine conflict. While the European Central Bank hesitates to aggressively cut rates or engage in quantitative easing due to domestic political constraints, speakers advocate for urgent public-sector downsizing, tax compliance reforms, and the revival of securitization markets to stimulate growth. The discussion concludes that without external leverage to compel structural changes in core economies or a controlled banking union, the stability of the EU project faces increasing pressure from internal fractures and divergent policy paths.