The State of the European Union. The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet

2018: A YEAR OF SLOW PROGRESS IN EUROZONE REFORM 81 global and European economies. As a result, slow progress may mean that the eurozone lacks the mechanisms it needs to cope with the next crisis, leaving it exposed to renewed fears of disintegration. Secondly, it would clearly be desirable to avoid the situation that arose during the sover- eign debt crisis, where decisions were left to the last minute. While there is a political logic to taking such decisions under pressure, it usually entails a high level of uncertainty, which can in turn have a negative impact on the economy, and increases the need for compensatory meas- ures. In the European case, the failure to imple- ment reforms is particularly serious, given that the opposing views of the different parties do not reflect economic realities. In an economy as closely integrated as Europe’s, overspill effects between countries can be dramatic. A recession in one country will have a major impact on all the countries of the monetary area. This means that European decisions cannot be taken on the basis of winners and losers, but should, rather, reflect the fact that all members will benefit if mechanisms are available to address imbalanc- es. Guaranteeing the irreversibility of the euro- zone is thus not a zero sum game, but some- thing that is of benefit to all. And this fact should provide the motivation for ambitious reforms towards a more closely integrated mon- etary union.