Right at the peak of the euro debt crisis, in June 2010, in less than eight weeks’ time, the European Union created a 440 billion euro ($514 billion) sovereign backstop facility – the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).
Only 30 weeks into its existence, the EFSF tapped the market for 5 billion euros, gathering a record-breaking book of 44.5 billion euros from more than 500 investors globally.
To date, this is still the largest-ever order book for a first-time issuer.
In 2013 the European Financial Stability Facility became European Stability Mechanism, a mega project itself, serving as the Eurozone’s lender of last resort.
European Stability Mechanism secures more transparent and predictable the eligibility process for precautionary credit lines
Europe took advantage of the good times over the last four years to reduce Debt – to – GDP ratio down to 85.1% (2019, source Eurostat)