Given these diverse viewpoints, understandably, the assessment of individual events was also different among investment banks. One bank considered the struggle about the early warning to Germany and Portugal in February, and the Council’s decision not to issue such a warning was considered a lost opportunity to enforce the Stability and Growth Pact as the existing procedure of fiscal co-ordination among European countries. 7 Conversely another bank argued “no warning, no problem,” since the two countries confirmed their commitment to their fiscal target. 8 The embarrassment of the “sinners” resulting from the public debate of the issue had been an effective mechanism to enforce commitment to the European fiscal.
