Eurozone: What Does The Autumn Hold?

The Eurozone saga continues to roll on.  Following a relatively quiet summer, the future of the Euro is dominating the headlines once more. While initial impressions are that Europe has responded positively to the first challenges of the autumn, there are big questions still to be answered.

Markets responded positively to the ECB's proposal that it would embark on a potentially unlimited bond-buying programme to bring down the borrowing costs of Italy, Spain and other troubled Eurozone countries. The announcement was accompanied by strongly pro-Euro rhetoric from the head of the ECB, Mario Draghi, who declared he would do "whatever it takes" to save the Euro.

This was followed by Germany's Constitutional Court rejecting legal challenges to the creation of a permanent bail-out fund (the ESM). The court ruled that the ESM is not unconstitutional although it stated that German liability to the ESM must not exceed €190 billion without the approval of Parliament.