Government debt markets are about trust. Before the crisis, all eurozone governments enjoyed the benefit of their collective trustworthiness, co-operation and solidarity in the form of favourable financing conditions that contributed to the wellbeing of Europe.

Investor trust in the eurozone has been badly shaken in the past two years. The image of co-operation and solidarity has been shattered. As 2011 came to a close, questions about the survival of the euro that would have been considered taboo earlier began to surface. Following Greece, a number of member states faced difficulties refinancing their debts or lost access to markets altogether, despite the implementation of unprecedented fiscal programmes.