Controversially for Ireland, Macron is pressing tax issue

When the true history of the past tumultuous decade is written, I suspect we will get a clearer understanding of just how concerned the political system and the monetary policymakers in Europe were about the sustainability of the euro and the whole economic and political structures that kept it together in the midst of the financial crisis.

The various crises in countries such as Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain and Ireland were individually of sufficient magnitude to destroy the system, not to mention when they were all combined. The fact the euro project has survived bears testament to the political will to ensure that it did survive against the odds.

The pledge from the ECB president Mario Draghi to do whatever it takes to keep the system alive was of the utmost importance.