Euro siege lifted - A lot has changed in two years

In Jun 2011 the eurozone was gripped by something approaching panic.

Governments across the currency area and other EU members were accused of being far too slow to react to rapidly changing circumstances, most especially the merciless whimsies of the markets.

Many people wondered if banks could be trusted and if savings were safe. Some who could moved funds outside the eurozone. Others with savings trapped in pension schemes looked on, increasingly fretful each day. Summit after summit had been frustratingly inconclusive and unequal to the task of creating the environment needed to restore badly needed stability.