“The road to hell is paved with good intentions. “ (Bernard of Clairvaux)
The current crisis regarding the European Monetary Union is a crisis of competence distribution.  This much is clear when one considers the fact that the Euro is experiencing a threefold crisis: banking, governmental debt, and balance of payments are all plaguing the EMU at the moment. Far too many players have their hands in the pockets of others, “moral hazards“ are occurring more frequently[1], and competences are becoming blurred. Despite the Fiscal Pact and the ban on bailouts, member states are now caught in a joint liability community. But if theoretically all are equally responsible for everything, then in actuality no one is liable for anything, resulting in only “soft“ budget restrictions of economic and political actors. The incentives for voters, politicians, banks, and collective agreement partners to economically kick over the traces are large. What’s more, voters and politicians in the EMU are tempted to operate at the expense of others and there are strong incentives for banks to privatize profits and hold states hostage for losses. Social partners are also susceptible to the appeal of passing off employment burdens to third parties.