Ten years of rescue funds
Over the past 10 years the EFSF has disbursed €187.6 billion in assistance to Ireland, Greece, and Portugal from 2011 to 2013, while its permanent successor, the ESM, has provided €109 billion in assistance to Greece, Cyprus, and Spain, the latter being an indirect banking sector recapitalisation.
Though the steps to establish the euro area crisis management architecture initially drew legal scrutiny from European and national courts, the ESM has established itself as an effective crisis resolution body, and one well integrated in the multi-layered global financial safety net.
Emblematic of the euro area's commitment to both combatting future crises and sustaining its single currency, policy makers recognised the ESM's role in delivering timely stability support, deciding to grant the rescue fund an enhanced crisis resolution mandate.