Costless advice...

...providing normative advice (where the anchor of opinion is a strong and united Europe) is the new official sport of the ECB. There is no credibility to these kinds of threats given recent events.

FT) The ECB has sharpened its hardline stance on eurozone fiscal policy by urging the still-tougher policing of member states’ public finances. In a report on proposed European Union regulations to monitor budgets better and strengthen the surveillance of countries in difficulties, the ECB makes clear it sees significant scope for further improvement. Among the proposals in the report dated March 7, the ECB suggests the surveillance of countries that run into difficulties in the future should be strengthened by public warnings for the most recalcitrant. Where a country under surveillance is threatening the eurozone’s financial stability, there should be an automatic recommendation that it seeks financial assistance, the ECB says.