Can the ECB save the Euro zone?

Abstract

The European project of monetary unification is under threat as never before. It is, therefore, high time to point out what went wrong and what should be done to reform the Eurosystem accordingly. This paper shows that Euro zone member countries are de facto still lacking a single currency and a monetary system that would allow for the final payment of cross-border transactions. Starting from the RTGS mechanism adopted by the Eurosystem and from a comparison with the working of domestic payment systems, it describes the changes required to transform the ECB into a bank of central banks capable to guarantee the existence of a true system of intra-European payments, with or without a single European currency (that is, with or without the loss of Euro zone countries’ monetary sovereignty)